


Metamorphosis

by Maethoriel_Artemis



Series: Quake Chronicles [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Doctor Who (2005), The Mummy (1999)
Genre: Adopted Tyler, Crossover, F/M, Skye's twin, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:28:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29046162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maethoriel_Artemis/pseuds/Maethoriel_Artemis
Summary: The adventure for Hayley Tyler continues. New places to explore. New aliens to meet. But that’s not all, there is still the lingering threat of Hydra to content with and Coulson’s mysterious symbols.Second in the Quake Chronicles.
Relationships: 10th Doctor/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Quake Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014825
Kudos: 3





	1. Christmas miracle

“You can’t still be looking at those weird symbols”, Jackie remarked as she passed by the kitchen table, box of Christmas decorations in her arms.

“I’ve got to”, Hayley said looking up from her tablet “Coulson wants me to identify them”.

“Well, couldn’t you take a break or something sweetheart?” Jackie suggested “you could help me decorate tree”.

“This is more important than some stupid tree”, the brunette snapped. The older blonde let out an exasperated sigh. She had tried to be patient toward her adopted daughter, she really had but this had gone on long enough. She was tired of the cold, unfeeling persona that Hayley had taken on. She didn’t know why she had become like this as Hayley refused to say anything to her but it ends now!

“Right, that’s it”, Jackie said, crossly snatching the tablet out of her hands.

“Mum!” Hayley shouted, jumping out of her chair, going after her adoptive mother “give it back”.

“Not until we’ve had a talk”, Jackie said, firmly setting the tablet down, out of the way “sweetheart this isn’t like you at all. I don’t know what’s happened to make you be this cold GI Jane but it has to stop. If you can’t talk to me about it cos its confidential, then why not one of your work mates. Coulson? Or that nice man Mr Ward” that had Hayley’s cold exterior shattering like glass and she crumpled to the ground, sobbing. Jackie dropped down next to her, wrapping her arms around Hayley.

“W-ward…he…he…” the brunette choked out.

“Oh, god. He’s dead”, Jackie breathed, assuming the worst.

Hayley shook her head “Worse. He…he betrayed us!” she cried harder “we were a team and family until HE tore it apart!”

“Oh baby, I’m so sorry”, Jackie said, rubbing her back. If she ever got her hands on that bastard she’d _kill_ him!

“Yeah”, Hayley sniffled, wiping her tears away “right how about we decorate that tree?” she suggested.

“Only if you’re feeling up to it”, Jackie said. She didn’t want make her adoptive daughter do anything that she didn’t want to do, now that she knew the reason why Hayley was acting the way she had.

“Yeah, I am”, Hayley assured her “who knows? Maybe Rose will come home to see it”.

“Christmas is a time for miracles”, Jackie remarked going over to where she put the box of Christmas decorations down and scooped it up. Together they decorated the white plastic tree. “I’m going to get the presents”, the blonde said when they’d almost finished. Hayley nodded and picked up a red bauble from the box. She was putting it on a branch of the tree when she paused, hearing a very faint but familiar noise. Hayley turned and darted out of the room.

“Hales, did you hear…?” Jackie said running out of her room.

“Yeah, I did”, Hayley cut in “looks like you’re about to get that Christmas miracle”.

They ran out of the flat, hurtled down the steps and into the courtyard. Not long after they arrived, Mickey came onto the scene. “Jackie, Hayley! it's the TARDIS!” he shouted.

“We know!” Hayley snapped looking around the blue box “where the heck is it?”

Suddenly the TARDIS appeared out of thin air, 20 feet above their heads. Mickey ducked down while Hayley pulled Jackie to the floor, shielding her as the box crashed against the buildings until it came down, skidding into a Post Office van and knocking a few dustbins out of the way.

Mickey, Hayley and Jackie got to their feet and watched the TARDIS get thrown open and an unfamiliar man with dark blonde hair and green eyes peered out “Here we are then! London! Earth! The Solar System! We did it!” he cheered.

He stumbled out of the TARDIS and gaped up at the flats, not seeming the notice the trio that was staring at him. Hayley noted how his clothes were identical to the Doctor’s, right down to the leather jacket. Suddenly the man noticed herself, Jackie and Mickey.

“Jackie! Mickey!” his eyes went to Hayley and his face just lit up “Hales!”

The man started towards her but stopped when she pulled her ICER on him “first off who the hell are you? and secondly how on Earth do you know our names?” Hayley demanded.

“Hales, its me. The Doctor”, the man said.

“Nice try. You look nothing like him”, Hayley said, tightening her grip on her weapon.

“No, it really is me”, the Doctor insisted “and I can prove it. When we first met, you punched me in the face. You and I went to Antarctica and helped the Yautja beat the Queen Xenomorph. Oh! And you became an honorary warrior of their people”.

“You could’ve learned that without being the Doctor. Its not exactly a secret”, Hayley snapped. The Doctor sighed. It was going to take something that she had told him. Something that no one else would know.

“Ok, you once dubbed me your alien knight in a leather jacket after I told you wasn’t going to stick to those rules Lex gave us”, the Time Lord said.

“Cos you said that my safety was your main concern”, Hayley lowered her ICER, realising that it really _was_ the Doctor “that if anything where to happen to me, they couldn’t stop me from being a hero” she put the weapon away “Doctor”, she breathed.

“Hello”, the Doctor said with a smile, thankful she now believed it was him.

“How…how did this happen?” Hayley asked trying to hold back the tears. The Doctor had briefly mentioned regeneration to her but she never expected that when she eventually reunited with him, that she’d be meeting a completely different person.

“Well I…” the Doctor took a step back suddenly feeling a bit dizzy “I…” Hayley darted forward to grab him before he faceplanted the pavement.

“A little help please?” she asked straining under the Time Lords weight. Mickey moved over to her and helped her lower the Doctor to the ground.

Rose came out of the TARDIS and saw the unconscious Doctor. “What happened? Is he alright?” she asked joining them.

“I don’t know”, Hayley answered honestly. The Doctor never went into detail about the process so it was possible that passing out was completely normal.

~Tyler Flat~

The Doctor was now tucked up in bed, now dressed in striped pyjamas. Hayley sat on the edge of the bed while Rose and Mickey hung back. Jackie hurrying into the room holding a stethoscope “Here we go” she handed it over to Hayley “Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it”, Jackie explained “Though I still say we should take him to hospital”.

“We can't. They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race”, Rose told her mother as Hayley put the stethoscope in her ears. Jackie opened her mouth to say something and Rose just shushed her. They watched as she placed the stethoscope either side of the Time Lord’s chest.

Hayley was relieved to hear that both hearts were beating steadily. “Both are working”, she said taking the stethoscope out of her ears.

“What do you mean, ‘both’?” Jackie questioned, a look of confusion on her face.

“He’s got 2 hearts”, Hayley replied.

“Oh, don't be stupid”, Jackie said clearly not believing her. Hayley just gave her a look telling her that she wasn’t joking. “Anything else he's got two of?” Jackie questioned.

“Leave him alone”, Rose said and with that she left the room. Jackie and Hayley followed after her, the latter casting a glance at the Time Lord who was laying in her own bed.

~kitchen~

“How can he go changing his face?” Jackie asked as Rose started to put the kettle on for a cup of tea. A good cuppa is what she needed after what she’d seen. “Is that a different face or is he a different person?”

“It’s called regeneration”, Hayley said quietly “it’s a process he does when he…” she trailed off not wanting to finish that sentence. She cleared her throat, blinking the tears away. She was not going to cry. She was going to keep it together. “All you need to know is that he’s the Doctor, despite his new look”, she added.

The kettle whistled, cutting through the silence that had fallen over the room. Rose went over to it and poured water into three cups. “What I’d like to know is, where'd you get a pa]ir of men's pyjamas from?” she asked quickly changing the subject. However upsetting the Doctor’s change was for her, she knew that it was going to be worse for Hayley given that she was in a relationship with Time Lord.

“Howard's been staying over”, Jackie replied.

Rose raised her eyebrows at her mother incredulously “What, Howard from the market? How long's that been going on?” she questioned dunking teabags into the mugs.

“A month or so”, Jackie answered “First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, that's odd. Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges and then a date”. Rose moved over to the fridge and took out the milk. She turned and caught notice of the TV through the hatchway.

“Is that Harriet Jones?” she asked. Rose set the milk down and went into the living room “Why's she on the telly?”

“She’s Prime Minister now”, Hayley answered leaning against the doorway.

“And I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They're calling it Britain's Golden Age”, Jackie added from where she now stood next to the brunette “I keep on saying my girls have met her”.

“We did more than that. Stopped World War Three with her”, Rose glanced at her sister and grinned. Hayley gave her a small smile in return but it wasn’t completely genuine. That adventure was with the previous Doctor whom she was never going to see again. At least not in person. She had a couple of photos but it would never be the same as actually having him around.

Seeing that her sister was looking so down, Rose suggested that they get some air. She also got Mickey to come with them.

~street~

“So what do you need? Twenty quid?” Mickey asked holding the money to Rose.

“Do you mind? I'll pay you back”, Rose said taking the note.

“Call it a Christmas present”, Mickey said with a laugh.

Rose looked around as they walked, taking in all the Christmas shoppers. “God, I'm all out of synch”, she remarked “You just forget about Christmas and things in the TARDIS. They don't exist. You get…sort of timeless”.

“Tell me about it”, Hayley agreed.

“Oh, yeah, that's fascinating, cos I love hearing stories about the TARDIS”, Mickey said with mock sarcasm “Oh, go on, tell us another one because I swear I could listen to it all day. TARDIS this, TARDIS that”.

“Shut up!” Rose said but she was smiling.

“Oh! One time the TARDIS landed in a biiig yellow garden full of balloons”, Mickey continued.

“I'm not like that!” Rose insisted.

“Hales here is worse. She wouldn’t stop regaling me with stories of her time with SHIELD, especially when Fitz tried to pull pranks on the others”, Mickey said.

“Hey! You enjoyed hearing those stories!” Hayley said pointing at him.

“I’d love to hear that one”, Rose said linking her arm with her sister’s.

“Well, it all started when….” By the time she finished her story, Rose and Mickey were roaring with laughter.

“I can’t believe May did that”, Rose giggled “she always seemed so serious”.

“It surprised us too. Guess you never know if someone you work with has a different side”, Hayley said. She then stopped realising that what she just said applied to Ward as well. _Ward…_ her fist clenched. She still wasn’t over his betrayal. To be honest she don’t think she ever would be.

“Hayley what’s wrong?” Rose asked seeing the change in the brunette.

“Nothing”, Hayley said quickly “let’s go see if we can’t find something ideal for mum. I’ve been so busy that I didn’t have time”. She took Rose’s arm and they walked off, Mickey close behind.

\------------

Hayley flittered from stall to stall trying to find something for Jackie. Mickey and Rose were doing the same. The brunette picked up a small shiny ornament, held it up, turning it this way and that as if to inspect it. In truth she was using it like a mirror to check behind her without looking around. _Yep they were following us_ she thought eyeing the three masked Santas carrying brass band instruments. She’d noticed them a little ways back but she wasn’t sure if they were following… until now.

Hayley put down the ornament and calmly walked away. One of the Santas broke from the group to go after her. The brunette slipped around the corner and waited. Like she did before at that abandoned town, she waited for the shadow of her pursuer to get close enough. When it did, she acted but instead of throwing a punch, Hayley grabbed the Santa and shoved him against the wall.

The Santa pushed her back with a surprising amount of force. Hayley fell to the floor surprised but quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding being barbequed by a trombone of all things. She jumped to her feet, dodged another firey blast before she retaliated with a hit of Time Vortex.

The Santa was thrown back against the wall, jerking and sparking. Hayley carefully went up to it and yanked off its mask. “You’ve got to be kidding me. A bloody robot”, Hayley said dropping the mask and taking a step back “I hate robots”. It was during a training session where a training robot Fitz had whipped up went completely awry and nearly took her head off that she started having a dislike for them. That and the Daleks. She _hated_ them!

Suddenly she heard people screaming and took off back towards the market. The other two Santa robots were torching the place! “Hayley over here!” Rose shouted. She looked over to see her and Mickey hiding behind a stall. She ran over to them.

“Why are these things attacking us?” Mickey asked flinching when the flames were turned onto the stall they were hiding behind.

“Getting out of here is more important”, Hayley told him. She peered around the stall, quickly ducking back to avoid getting burnt. “Ok, we need to make run for it…” she peered around again and then pulled back “Now!” The trio darted out from behind the stall and ran down the street.

“Taxi!” Rose shouted as one pulled up and the 3 of them clambered in.

“So why the heck are those things after us?” Mickey demanded as they settled into their seats.

“They must be after the Doctor”, Hayley answered. Nothing else made sense. There would be no reason for a bunch of robots to attack them unless they were after the Time Lord. “Better call mum and warn her”.

Rose nodded at took out her phone and dialled Jackie. Rose listened for a couple of minutes before she said, exasperatedly “Get off the phone!”

“Who were…those Santa things?” Mickey asked.

“They’re robots”, Hayley answered.

“You serious? Robots?” Rose questioned, in disbelief.

“Yep”, the brunette answered.

“Well, that’s just fantastic”, the blonde griped.

“Exactly how I felt sis”, Hayley remarked.

\------------------

The moment the taxi pulled up outside the Powell Estate, the trio jump out and race towards the Tyler flat. “Get off the phone!” Rose shouted as she burst into her flat seeing her mother chatting away on the phone.

“It's only Bev! She says hello”

Rose grabbed the phone “Bev? Yeah. Look, it'll have to wait”. She hangs it up and looks at Mickey Jackie and Hayley. “Right, it's not safe. We've got to get out. Where can we go?”

“My mate Stan, he'll put us up”, Mickey offered.

“That's only two streets away” Rose turned to her mother.

“There’s a SHIELD safehouse about 20 minutes away by car”, Hayley offered.

“We’ll go there”, Rose said.

“No, it's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?” Jackie asked thoroughly confused as to why Rose wanted to leave the flat on Christmas Eve.

Hayley then noticed the tree in the corner of the room. It wasn’t the white tree they had earlier, it was green “Mum….where'd you get that tree?” she asked.

“I thought you got it”, Jackie answered.

“Why would I get another tree when we were using our white one?” Hayley questioned.

“I dunno! There was a ring at the door, and there it was!” Jackie answered.

“And you just decided to bring it inside?!” Hayley exclaimed “not a good move mum, what if its dangerous?”

“Don’t be daft sweetheart”, Jackie said waving off her worry “It’s just a tree. How could it be dangerous?”

The moment she said that, the tree lit up by itself. The sections of the tree started to spin, slowly at first before quickly speeding up. “You were saying?” Hayley asked Jackie while the tree span around like some coniferous Tasmanian Devil. “All of you my room, now!” Hayley ordered as the tree decimated the coffee table.

They all ran to her room and piled inside “Hayley, what are you doing?” Rose asked when the brunette stopped in the doorway.

“Saving you”, Hayley said pulling the door shut. Rose tried to go for the door when Mickey stopped her.

“We have to help her!” Rose exclaimed.

“We’d only get in the way, Hayley knows what she’s doing”, Mickey said.

Out in the hall, Hayley stood watching the spinning tree get closer. “You shall not pass evil tree”, she muttered and with that she threw her hands up, time vortex emanating from them. The Christmas tree exploded, knocking her back. Hayley rolled over to avoid the flying splinters of wood and the confetti of leaves.

Then her bedroom door flung open and a now awake Doctor rushed out. “Hales!” he exclaimed seeing her on the floor, destroyed Christmas tree littered on and around her.

“I’m ok”, Hayley said sitting up. The Doctor held out his hands and she took them. He pulled her to her feet. “Lucky I had the time vortex, eh?” she remarked.

“Yeah…lucky”, the Doctor muttered in agreement, his hearts only starting to get back to their normal rhythm. They’d been beating like crazy since he’d woken up, having heard the commotion.

“I hope this is a lesson to you mum”, Hayley said, looking over at her mother who’d come out of the room as did Rose and Mickey “never take in anything that’s been left on your doorstep unless you ordered it”.

The Time Lord crouched down and scanned the debris of the Christmas tree with his sonic. “Remote control”, he said, looking at the results “But who's controlling it?”

He turned and left the flat, the others following him. They look over the balcony to see two of the robot Santas standing there. Of course it would have been three if Hayley hadn’t made it short circuit. “Our robot Santa buddies”, she muttered eyeing them.

The Doctor aimed his sonic at the Santas in a threatening manner. They took a step back before vanishing in a flash. “They've just gone!” Mickey laughed “What kind of rubbish robots were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off”.

Pilot fish”, the Doctor corrected him.

“What?” Rose asked.

“They were just pilot fish”, the Doctor repeated before coughing and throwing himself back against the wall. In an instant Hayley was by his side, supporting him as much as she could.

“Whats wrong?” she asked worriedly.

“I woke too soon” he panted “I’m still regenerating. I’m bursting with energy” vortex energy escaped from his mouth as he exhaled. “You see? The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away. So they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of year… he lurched forward groaning. Hayley gripped him tighter and Jackie went to his other side to help her support the Time Lord.

“My head!” the Time Lord groaned “I'm having a neuron implosion. I need…”

“What do you need?” Jackie asked frantically.

“I need…”

“Say it, tell me, tell me, tell me…” Jackie urged.

“I need…”

“Painkillers?” Jackie asked.

“I need…” the Doctor gasped.

“Do you need aspirin?” Jackie continued.

“I…”

“Codeine?” Jackie cut in “Parac –“

“Mum, shut up”, Hayley almost snapped “he’s not going to be tell us what he needs if you keep yapping”.

“I’m just trying to help”, Jackie muttered but Hayley just ignored her, keeping her focus on the Doctor.

“What do you need to help your head?” she asked gently.

“I…I need…” the answer was there in his head, he knew it was but he couldn’t quite grasp it. “I need…” he tried again “I….” he broke off and groaned, lurching forward breaking out of Jackie’s and Hayley’s hold. The Doctor leant against the wall “We haven't got much time” he panted “If there's pilot fish, then…” he pulled an apple out of his dressing gown pocket “Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?”

“Oh, that's Howard. Sorry”, Jackie said apologetically.

“He keeps apples in his dressing gown?” the Doctor questioned.

“He gets hungry”, Jackie replied.

“What, he gets hungry in his sleep?” the Doctor asked looking at the apple confused.

“Sometimes”, Jackie admitted.

The Doctor suddenly shouts with pain and sinks to the floor. Hayley goes to his side, now very concerned about him. “Brain…collapsing…” the Doctor grabs hold of her upper arms tightly. Staring into her brown eyes, he struggled to get out his next sentence “P…the Pilot Fish mean that something, something…” he took several deep breaths, his eyes never leaving Hayley “something is coming. You have to go…”

Hayley shook her head “I’m not leaving you Doctor. Those Pilot Fish want you, they’re going to have to get through me first”, she told him “and I’ve already taken one of them down”.

The Doctor managed to crack a smile through his pain “that’s my girl”, he whispered before he collapsed into her lap.

\-------------

Hayley sat on the edge of the bed looking at the Doctor worriedly. He seemed restless and he had a sheen of sweat on his skin. She didn’t have be an expert to know that those weren’t good signs. Hayley looked up when Rose entered the room with a flannel. “Thanks”, she said when the blonde gave it over.

“Any change?” Rose asked.

“He’s worse”, Hayley replied quietly as she dabbed the flannel on the Doctor’s forehead “only one heart beating”. Once again she suppressed the tears. “I should be angry at you right now”, she told the Time Lord “but I can’t, not when you’re like this” she took his hand “please pull through”, she pleaded.

~living room~

“How is he?” Jackie asked when he daughter joined herself and Mickey in the living room.

“He’s worse than before”, Rose replied sadly sitting down on the arm of a chair. She and her mother watched the TV for a moment before Mickey got her attention with

“Here we go, pilot fish” Rose got up to have a look at the laptop screen “Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish”.

“Do you mean like sharks?” Rose asked.

“Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we had them… now we get that”, Mickey explained as the animation of a shark on the screen snaps viciously.

“Something is coming…” unknown to everyone except Jackie, the TV screen goes slightly static “How close?”

“There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy”, Mickey explained.

Jackie watches as a distorted image appears of the television screen “So, it's close?” Rose asked Mickey.

“Funny sort of rocks”, Jackie remarked.

Rose turned her attention to the screen “that’s not rocks…” as the image becomes clearer, she edges closer to the TV.

_“….coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning”_

The image suddenly becomes clear revealing an alien. It roared at them making all three humans gasp and jump backwards.

_“The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1”_

“Hales get out here!” Rose shouted.

“Rosie whats wrong?” Hayley asked, dashing into the room. The blonde just pointed to the TV. Hayley looked at the screen at the alien on it.

“We think that it’s the ‘something’ that’s coming”, Rose told her.

Hayley walked closer to the TV “if that is what’s coming for the Doctor, he/she/it will still have to go through me”, she said. She turned to look at Jackie, Mickey and Rose “I’m giving him up without a fight. And if I have to enlist SHIELD’s help, then I will”, she added.

“I’ll try to get access to the military. See if we can get any information on those things”, Mickey said nodding to the TV.

“No need”, Hayley said “SHIELD is more than likely got their eyes on those aliens. And I have a way to check” she went over to the table, sat down next to Mickey and pulled her tablet towards her. The dark skinned man watched as she flicked through information on the device.

“Rose you might want to take a look”, Mickey said when Hayley managed to bring up a diagram that showed a ship and the Earth.

“According to this, the spaceship is pretty big”, Hayley told them, consulting the data next to the diagram “and its very fast…and its heading this way”.

The screen changed to four of the aliens that were on the TV a few minutes ago. “Have either of you seen them before?” Mickey asked.

“No”, Rose replied.

“Me neither”, Hayley answered. The aliens started to speak and she frowned when she couldn’t understand it.

“I don't understand what they're saying”, Rose said “The TARDIS translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am”.

“So, why isn't it doing it now?” Mickey asked.

“Maybe it’s not working because the Doctor isn’t quite himself”, Hayley suggested “but I have a translation programme on here courtesy of Fitz-Simmons”. She took the tablet and brought up the programme. The trio waited a couple of minutes for it to figure out the language the aliens were speaking in before they started to hear English.

“People. You belong to us. To the Sycorax. We own you. We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender or they will die. Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax rock”

Mickey laughed “Seriously, Sycorax rock?”

“That’s a weird thing for them to say”, Rose remarked. Hayley didn’t say anything, she just turned and walked back to her room. She sat down on her desk chair which was next to her bed and took the Doctor’s hand.

“Come on Doctor, please wake up. We need you”, she pleaded quietly “ _I_ …need you” she didn’t even stop the tears from falling this time.

When Rose went to look in on the Doctor about an hour later, she found her sister still awake, looking at the Time Lord sadly.

“Hayley”, Rose said quietly, making Hayley look over at her. She opened up her arms. Hayley got up and went over to the blonde. Rose hugged her. Hayley closed her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside the flat. “What is wrong with you?” a woman shouted “Jason? Jason?”

Rose, Hayley and Mickey hurried out the flat “Sandra?” Rose called.

“He won't listen” Sandra gestured to the man before her, walking in a daze “He's just walking. He won't stop walking! There's this sort of…light, thing. Jason? Stop it! Right now!” Sandra turned and chased after him.

The trio looked over the balcony to see numerous people walking, a blue light flashing every so often around their heads as they made their way to the stairs. They followed the crowd of people up to the roof, their loved ones trying but failing to persuade them to get away from the edge. They all seemed like they were…hypnotised.

“What do we do?” Mickey asked eyeing all the people lined up along the roofs edge.

“Nothing. There’s nothing we can do”, Rose replied sadly. With the Doctor currently out of commission and not looking like he was going to wake up any time soon, there was no hope for them now. Hayley looked at all the people, her sadness now gone, replaced by anger.

“There’s always something we can do”, she said “always” and with that she turned and headed back to the flat.

Hayley marched into her room, heading straight for where she kept her Yautja spear and ICER. She tucked it into the back belt loops of her trousers before strapping her ICER holster to her leg. Hayley was checking the magazine of her weapon when the windows suddenly exploded. She put her arms up to shield her face, wincing as glass shards cut her skin. Then the room started to shake violently. Hayley stumbled back, bracing herself against the wall waiting for the shaking to subside.

As soon as it did, Hayley rushed out of the room. “Everybody ok?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’re fine”, Rose replied.

“What the heck was that?” Mickey demanded.

“Lets go find out”, Hayley said. The three of them hurry out of the flat to find a huge spaceship in the sky, obscuring the sun. Rose and Hayley glanced at each other.

“TARDIS?” the blonde asked.

“TARDIS”, Hayley confirmed. _Hiding in the TARDIS isn’t doing nothing, its doing something_ she thought firmly going into the flat. “Mum, Rose get some supplies”, she instructed “Mickey you’re gonna help me move the Doctor”. She then went into her bedroom, scooped up her ICER and stuck it into her holster. Minutes later she and Mickey were carrying the Doctor out of the door, Rose and Jackie following, both laden down by several bags of supplies. 

Hayley thankfully didn’t have to use her key to get into the box as the door opened all on its own as she and Mickey approached. “I suppose you don’t know how the fly this thing?” Mickey asked Rose as he and Hayley carefully set the Doctor down onto the grilled floor.

“I’m afraid not”, Rose said.

“So, what do we do? Just sit here?” Mickey asked hoping they had a better plan other than hiding out in the TARDIS.

“That's as good as it gets”, Rose said clearly frustrated.

“How about a nice cup of tea?” Jackie suggested getting out a thermos flask.

“Mmm, the solution to everything”, Rose said a little sarcastically.

“Now, stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food”, Jackie said setting the flask down before leaving.

“Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British”, Mickey remarked. Neither Rose nor Hayley answered him. The former was absentmindedly flicking a switch on the console while the latter was mentally trying to assure herself that them sitting in the TARDIS wasn’t doing nothing.

“How does this thing work?” Mickey asked looking at the TARDIS’s scanner “If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered” he pressed a few buttons “What do you do to it?”

“It kinda tunes itself”, Hayley answered.

Outside Jackie was coming out of the block of flats with yet more bags, in time to see the TARDIS being teleported away in a flash of light “Rose! Hayley!” she cried. She looked up at the spaceship hovering in the sky, scared.

Hayley looked up when she heard a bleeping sound from the console. “Maybe it's a distress signal”, Mickey suggested as he listened to it.

“A fat lot of good that's going to do”, Rose muttered.

“I wonder whats taking mum so long?” Hayley asked wanting to get Rose thinking about something else other than the situation they were currently in.

“I dunno”, Rose replied “I'd better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there”.

“I’ll go too”, Hayley said getting up.

“Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine”, Mickey called after the two of them as they headed for the door.

“Why don't you tell her yourself?” Rose asked with her hand on the door.

“I'm not that brave”, Mickey admitted.

“Oh, I don't know…” Rose said with a smile and opened the door. She and Hayley were promptly grabbed and roughly pulled out of the box causing them to scream.

Mickey rushed after them, knocking over the open thermal flask as he went. “Close the door!” Rose shouted at him as she struggled in the Sycorax’s grip. The black man managed to shut the door before he too was grabbed by a Sycorax.

The Sycorax Leader pointed at Rose and addressed her angrily. “The yellow girl. She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet”, Alex translated.

“The hell she does”, Hayley spoke up “It’s me who speaks for the planet”. She walked forward, eyes fixed on the leader. He hissed and pointed to the golden mark that shimmered on her cheek.

“You’ve been marked by the Yautja!” Alex translated.

“Yeah I have. I’m an honorary warrior”, Hayley said calmly “does that scare you?”

“The Sycorax aren’t scared of anything”, the leader declared, Alex once again repeating his words in English.

Hayley smirked. He would be singing a different tune by the time she was done with him. “You know, you’ve made two whopping mistakes today”, she remarked “One: you did something to all those people who are now standing on roof tops. Two: You sent your robot buddies went after someone I love and no one, NO ONE goes after the people I hold dear and gets away with it. And by all rights I should be kicking your ass for it. But its Christmas, a time for peace. So I’m going to give you one chance. Release the hostages and then get the hell of this planet. Or I’ll give my Yautja friends a call. What’ll it be?”

There was a few minutes of stunned silence before all the Sycorax started laughing. “Sorry did I say something funny?” Hayley asked.

“You think you can threaten us?” the leader questioned angrily.

“I don’t think I can. I just did”, Hayley countered.

“We are the Sycorax”, the alien continued as if she hadn’t spoken “we stride the darkness” the alien hissed at Hayley who didn’t even flinch “If you are the best your planet can offer as a champion then your world will be gutted….”

Hayley’s eyes widened a fraction when she heard English “Hold on, that's English”, Alex stated.

“He’s speaking English”, Rose repeated.

“I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!” the leader spat.

“I hate to say it but you are”, Hayley said.

“I only speak Sycoraxic!” the Sycorax Leader declared.

“Yes I _know_ you do”, Hayley said “but we’re all hearing English means it’s being translated…which means…” she broke off to turn towards the TARDIS. Mickey, Alex, Harriet and Rose followed suit. The doors to the TARDIS open and there stood the Doctor looking much better than he did before.

“Did you miss me?” he asked with a grin.

The Sycorax leader roared in fury and lashes his whip at the Doctor who catches it easily. He yanks it out of the alien’s hands and tosses it away. “You’ll have someone’s eye with that!” the Doctor scolded. The red skinned alien tried to attack him again, this time with his staff. Once more the Doctor disarmed him. He snapped the staff in half and tossed he pieces away. “You can’t get the staff”, the Time Lord said “now, you, just wait. I’m busy”, he pointed warningly at the Sycorax leader before turning back to the others.

“Mickey, hello!” the Doctor said cheerily “And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life” the Time Lord then turned his attention to Rose “Tea! That's all I needed, a good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses” he moved onto Hayley “hey”, he said softly, reaching up and tracing the warrior’s mark with his thumb. The brunette closed her eyes, leaning into his touch.

“Hey”, she murmured. 

“Are you ok?” he asked having heard everything while he was dozing in the TARDIS.

Hayley opened her eyes “I’m fine”, she replied.

“You sure? I heard everything”, the Doctor told her.

“I’m ok, really”, Hayley assured him “If I can handle a soldier with Centipede serum and Garret with his Hydra goons, I can take a feeble threat from that guy”, she gestured to the Sycorax Leader.

“I'm sorry. Who is this?” Harriet spoke up.

“I'm the Doctor”, he replied.

“He's the Doctor”, Hayley repeated.

“But what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?” Harriet questioned.

“I'm him. I'm literally him”, the Doctor assured her “Same man, new face. Well, new everything”.

“But you can't be”, Harriet insisted. How could he be? He looked completely different.

The Doctor knew he was going to have to persuade her that he was still the Doctor the same way he did with Hayley. “Harriet Jones, we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens…it wasn't the war…it was the thought of your mother being on her own”.

“Oh, my God”, Harriet breathed realising that this man in front of her was indeed the Doctor.

“Did you win the election?” the Doctor asked.

“Landslide majority”, Harriet said smiling, rather pleased.

“If I might interrupt!” the Sycorax Leader shouted.

They all spin around having completely forgotten all about him. “Yes! Sorry! Hello, big fella!” the Doctor said cheerily although his stance had turned defensive as he face the Sycorax Leader.

“Who exactly are you?” the alien asked.

“I’m the Doctor”, the Time Lord answered “but aside from that I haven’t got a clue. Its all new…untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?” he looks at Hayley “Handsome and a little bit sexy?” he gave her a cheeky wink and she blushed “Right handed? Left handed? Am I a bad ass? Am I…” he trailed off and a thoughtful look appeared on his face “I fancy pie” Hayley looked at him quizzically as did the others “how about you Hales? Want some pie?”

“How about we deal with the invasion first”, she suggested.

“Yeah good idea”, the Doctor agreed, mentally kicking himself for going off topic “well, it seems like I’m a bit of a chatter box “he then noticed a button “and how will I react when I see that” he points at it with a big grin “a great big threatening button” he runs up the stairs, laughing “A Great Big Threatening Button Which Must Not Be Pressed Under Any Circumstances. Am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix? Hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?” the Doctor crouched down and opens the door in the base of the pillar supporting the button “And what've we got here? Blood?” he dips a finger in and sniffs it “Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron”, he wiped his finger on the dressing gown, thinking “Ah, but that means…blood control…” the Doctor become delighted at that “Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years. You're controlling all the A Positives. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. Because I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a Great Big Threatening Button Which Should Never Ever Be Pressed…then I just want to do this”. 

He whacks the button hard “No!” Harriet and Rose shouted. Hayley doubted he’d just press the button if he wasn’t sure that the people under the Sycorax’s control where safe.

“You killed them!” Alex exclaimed.

The Doctor scoffed “Don’t be stupid. I wouldn’t kill innocent people. Besides, blood control is basically hypnosis. It can make you do dumbass things but it cannot make you commit suicide. Survival instinct's too strong”.

“Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force”, the Sycorax Leader said.

“I’d like to see you try”, the Doctor said, he ran over to a Sycorax and snatched up the sword “I challenge you for the planet!”

 _Oh boy_ Hayley thought as the Sycorax Leader nodded, took out his sword and knelt down. The Doctor did the same. “For the planet?” the Sycorax asked.

“For the planet”, the Doctor confirmed.

The humans watch as the Doctor and the Sycorax leader clashed swords. Hayley fiddled with her hands as the pair fought. She winced when the Time Lord got knock to the said. _Come on Doctor, you can do this_ she thought as he got to his feet. Their swords clashed again.

“Look out!” Rose shouted as the Sycorax Leader swung his sword at the Time Lord who just managed to dodge it.

“Oh yeah, that helped. Wouldn’t have thought of that otherwise, thanks”, the Doctor said sarcastically. He led the fight up the stairs and onto a platform on the outside of the spaceship. Hayley winced when the Doctor got elbowed in the nose by the Sycorax Leader.

The Doctor groaned, stumbling back a few steps clutching his nose. His gaze drifted over to Hayley. He couldn’t afford to lose. Not with her life on the line. Along with everyone else on Earth. Much more determined, he lifted his sword and ran at the Sycorax Leader. The Sycorax leader ran at him and they clashed swords once more. The pair both grimace with effort that is until the Sycorax Leader managed to knock the Doctor backwards to the ground. The alien slashed at the Doctor’s wrist cutting his hand off. Hayley gasped when she saw this.

The Doctor watched his hand fall to Earth “You cut my hand off”, he stated both stunned and annoyed.

“Ya! Sycorax!” the leader said triumphantly.

The Doctor got to his feet “And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. ‘Cos quite by chance I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy…to do this” he holds up his stump of an arm and before the eyes of everyone, his hand grew back.

“Witchcraft”, the Sycorax leader snarled.

“Time Lord”, the Doctor retorted.

Hayley pulled out her spear and extended it. “Doctor!” she called and he turned to her. She tossed him the spear. 

“Thanks Hales!” the Doctor said as he caught the weapon, spinning it. He turned back to the Sycorax Leader “Want to know the best bit? This new hand…” he dropped into a Texan accent “It's a fightin’ hand!” The Doctor runs at the Sycorax leader and the fighting resumes.

This time it’s the Doctor who seems to have the upper hand. He whacked the Sycorax leader hard in the stomach with the butt of the spear and the alien groans. The Doctor does it twice more causing the Sycorax leader to fall to the ground. “I win”, the Doctor said pointing the sharp end at the alien’s throat.

“Then kill me”

“I'll spare your life if you'll take this Champion's command: Leave this planet, and never return”, the Doctor said, his tone serious “What do you say?”

“Yes”, the Sycorax leader said agreeing with the Doctor’s terms.

The Doctor jabbed the spear closer “Swear on the blood of your species”, he ordered in a far more angry tone than before.

“I swear”

The Doctor grinned, his anger now gone “There we are, then! Thanks for that! Cheers, big fella!”

Hayley ran over and gave the Doctor a hug before smacking him upside the head. “That was for getting your hand cut off, dumbass”, she said.

“Sorry”, the Doctor mumbled, rubbing the back of his head “its grown back though!” he added, wiggling his new hand.

“You still got it cut off”, Hayley pointed out as they started to walk toward the others “just promise me that you wont do it again”.

“I promise”, the Doctor vowed, handing the spear back to Hayley. She collapsed it and attached it back to her belt. Behind them the Sycorax leader get to his feet. He picks up his sword, roaring as he charged at them. Without even turning around, the Doctor reached around Hayley’s waist, taking her ICER and firing it at the button on the side of the ship causing the ground underneath the Sycorax leader to open. He tumbles to the Earth screaming. “No second chances. I'm that sort of a man”, the Doctor said seriously glaring at the other Sycorax. 

\-------------------

The Doctor stands in front of the TARDIS with Hayley and the others “By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time” the Doctor said looking at all the Sycorax seriously “And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet…when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this. It is defended”.

After that they were teleported back to Earth. “Where are we?” Rose asked looking around.

“We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just round the corner, we did it!” Mickey laughed and jumps up and down with glee. The Doctor holds up his hand as the spaceship’s engines started up.

“Wait a minute…wait a minute…”, the Time Lord said as the ship takes flight, back into the skies and the Doctor grins.

“Go on, my son! Oh, yeah!” Mickey cheered gleefully.

Rose jumped onto Mickey’s back laughing “Yeah! Don't come back!”

“It is defended!” Mickey cheered.

Hayley turned to the Doctor and hugged him again, happily. “We did it!” she said.

“Yes we did”, the Doctor agreed.

“I think someone else wants to give you a hug”, Hayley remarked noticing Harriet standing there, sort of watching them. The Doctor nodded and went over to the woman.

“Doctor”, Harriet said happily.

“Prime Minister”, the Doctor said smiling at her. While the two of them hugged, Rose and Hayley did the same.

“Rose! Hayley!” Jackie called getting the attention of her daughters.

“Mum!” Rose called back, she and Hayley running over to the woman. The Doctor watched with a smile as the trio hugged.

“Come on Doctor”, Hayley urged, looking over at him. He went over and joined them in the group hug. Mickey wandered over and he was drawn into it as well.

Alex took Harriet a little ways away to have a private word with her. “Just got a message from Torchwood. They say they’re ready”, he said.

Harriet looked over at the group who were now chattering happily away to each other. “Tell them to fire”, the woman ordered.

“Fire at will”, Alex said into his communication device. They only had to wait for a moment until a beam of green light shot up into the sky. The Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Hayley jumped as they hadn’t been expecting it. They looked up in horror as four more beams join the first, destroying the Sycorax spaceship.

“Oh my”, Jackie gasped.

“What the hell was that?” Rose asked shocked.

“You stupid woman!” Hayley shouted as stormed over to Harriet “they were leaving!”

“They would’ve brought others back to Earth”, Harriet shot back.

“No, they wouldn’t have done. The Doctor…” Hayley started when Harriet cut in with.

“The Doctor isn’t here all the time and today is a prime example of why we need to learn how to defend ourselves”

Hayley had to restrain herself from saying that what SHIELD was for as officially the organisation doesn’t exist. For the moment she and the others were working quietly in the background, so to speak.

“And I should have stopped you”, the Doctor added having joined them without the pair noticing.

“What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?” Harriet asked.

“Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your Government with a single word”, the Doctor threatened.

“You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that”, Harriet said not believing him.

“No, you’re right. Not a single word. Just six”, the Doctor said correcting himself.

“I don’t think so”, Harriet shook her head.

“Six words”, the Doctor repeated.

“Stop it!” Harriet shouted.

“Six”. The Doctor and Harriet stare at each other in a battle of wills. Hayley glanced between the two of them wondering who was going to cave first. A moment later the Doctor walked around Harriet and went over to Alex. He removed the man’s earpiece and spoke quietly to him.

Once he was done, Hayley went over. The two of them re-joined Jackie, Mickey and Rose and the group walked away completely ignored Harriet’s calls.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hayley leant against the console humming a Christmas song under her breath as she waited for the Doctor. “Sorry I took so long Hales”, she heard the Doctor say from behind her. Hayley pushed off from the console and turned around to find the Time Lord wearing a t-shirt with a plaid shirt of over the top and a pair of jeans. In his hands was a leather jacket similar to what he wore before except it was brown and not black. “What do you think?” he asked, putting the jacket on, wanting her honest opinion.

“It definitely suits this new you”, she said.

“Thanks”, the Doctor said pleased “Hayley, before we go, I just want to apologise. If I had a choice, I would’ve said goodbye to you first before I...you know” he gestured to himself “and I understand that you’re probably angry with me so I wont be offended if you decide that you need some time apart”.

“By all rights I should be angry at you, I really, really should”, Hayley said “but I can’t” she turned away “too much has gone on these past few months that I _can’t_ be mad at you”.

“What’s gone on?” the Doctor asked. Hayley didn’t answer him. He moved around her and found that she was quietly crying “Hayley, what happened?”

Hayley looked the Time Lord for a moment before tearfully telling him everything. The Doctor hugged the sobbing woman. “Hales I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry”, he said quietly.

\-------------

Rose looked up from where she was setting the table when she heard the front door open. She smiled when she saw the Doctor and Hayley standing there. Now they had two extra pairs of hands, it didn’t take the Tyler’s and Mickey long to get everything set up. Soon they were all sitting down, tucking into the dinner Jackie had prepared.

After dinner came the pulling of crackers. Rose screamed as hers banged when she pulled it with the Doctor. “I think this is yours”, he said handing over a pink paper hat.

“It’s pink!” Rose laughed putting it on her head “mum, it should be yours!”

The Doctor turned to Hayley who was holding out her cracker to him. He took hold of the other end and pulled. He won for the second time and like with Rose, he gave Hayley the paper hat. Her one was blue. She put it on.

“Oh hey it’s Harriet Jones!” Rose exclaimed suddenly spotting the woman on the TV that had been playing while they’d been eating. They all turned to look at the TV, the Doctor pulling out a pair of black square framed glasses from his pocket.

“Prime Minister, is it true that you are no longer fit to be in position?” a man asked.

“No. Now, can we talk about other things?” Harriet asked looking rather flustered to the group.

The Doctor stood up and put on the glasses and looked sternly at the TV. “Is it true you’re unfit for office?” the man on the TV pressed.

“Look, there is nothing wrong with my health!” Harriet insisted “I don’t know where these stories are coming from! And vote of no confidence… is completely unjustified”.

“What exactly where those 6 words you said to that man?” Hayley asked the Doctor.

“’Don’t you think she looks tired?’” the Doctor said repeating it from earlier.

“And that brought on a vote of no confidence in Harriet Jones. Just goes to show you never underestimate the power of words”, Hayley said.

The phone rang in the kitchen and Jackie went off to answer it. She came back after a moment and said “It's Beth. She says go and look outside”.

“Why?” Rose asked.

“I don't know, just go outside and look” Jackie replied “Come on, shift!”

All five of them exited the block of flats to see what appears to be snow falling from the black sky, the occasional light steaking across it. “Oh, it's beautiful. What are they, meteors?” Rose questioned looking up the sky in awe.

“It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash”, the Doctor corrected her.

“Okay, not so beautiful”, Rose amended.

“This is a brand new planet Earth” the Doctor said still looking up at the sky “No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new”, the Doctor said.

“And what about you?” Rose asked hesitantly “what are you going to do next?”

“Back to the TARDIS, same old life…” the Doctor replied.

“Not quite the same”, Hayley said “someone’s gotta watch your back, make sure you don’t lose another hand”. The Doctor smiled, glad that she still wanted to travel with him.

“Just you two?” Rose asked tentatively.

“You’re welcome to come if you like”, the Doctor said looking over at her.

“Really?” Rose asked.

“Yes”, the Doctor replied.

“You're never are going to stay, are you?” Mickey asked catching the trio’s attention.

“There's just so much out there. So much to see. I've got to”, Rose told him.

Mickey smiles understanding that Rose wanted to continue travelling with the Doctor and Hayley “Yeah”

“Well, I reckon you're mad”, Jackie commented “The three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble”.

The Doctor goes up to her “Trouble's just the bits in-between” he puts an arm around Jackie “It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me”. The Doctor goes back to Hayley and Rose “All those planets…and creatures and horizons…. I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes. And it is going to be…fantastic”

Both Hayley and Rose smile at the use of his former catchphrase. The Doctor held out his hand to Hayley who took it with no hesitation “so where are we going to go first?” she asked him.

“Um…that way” the Doctor said pointing to a random spot in the sky “No, hold on. That way” he points slightly to the right of where he first pointed.

“Looks like a good starting point to me”, Hayley agreed.


	2. A reluctant talk

**AN: Some of you might’ve noticed the Doc’s description and clothing are different. That’s cos I’ve decided to do a different 10 th Doctor instead. This one is portrayed by Jensen Ackles in his role as Dean Winchester. **

A couple of days later, the three of them were preparing to set off on their next leg of adventures when Hayley got a call from Coulson. “Hey Director”, she greeted “whats up?”

_“Something happened during one of the missions. I need you to come back to base to have a chat with Ward”_

The Doctor and Rose saw Hayley stiffen, her grip tightening on her phone. “Can’t Skye talk to him?” Hayley asked.

_“She’s currently busy. Hayley, Ward will only talk to either you or Skye”_

“With all due respect Coulson, I’m not the best person to speak to him”, Hayley admitted “I’d sooner kill him…” the Doctor now knew the ‘him’ Hayley was referring to. Her former SO: Ward. “…than have a civilised conversation”.

 _“Noted”_ Coulson said _“I still want you to talk to him”_

Hayley moved the phone away from her ear, took a deep breath and put the phone back “copy that”, she said trying to keep her tone of voice professional “I’ll be there soon. The Doctor’s come back” and with that she hung up.

“Why does he want you to talk to Ward?” the Doctor asked.

“He didn’t specify”, Hayley answered “but I’m guessing he wants me to get some intel from him”. 

“But you said on the phone that you would sooner kill him”, Rose said, confused “what happened?”

“Ward is Hydra”, Hayley told her.

Rose’s eyes widened “oh my god”, she breathed “Hales…”

“Yeah, it was a shocker to us too”, Hayley interrupted “good thing is he is in our custody” she turned to the Doctor and gave him the coordinates for the SHIELD base aka the Playground. The Time Lord nodded, put them into the console and soon they were off.

~Playground~

When they arrived, they were met by Billy who was trying his best not to seem too excitable. He like his brothers had a love of Sci-Fi so it was like a dream come true to meet an actual alien AND to see the TARDIS. “You know, the way that box of yours appeared is very cool”, he remarked nodding to the blue box “I would love to get a peek inside”.

“Maybe later”, Hayley said “do you have the lanyards?” she asked.

“Yep”, Billy said producing two security lanyards “this is yours Doctor” he held one out to the Time Lord who took it “and this one is yours Rose” he gave the other one to the blonde.

“How come I’ve got a visitors one and the Doctor’s one is labelled consultant?” Rose asked having snuck a glance at it.

“I’m sure that’s only temporary, right Billy?” Hayley said giving him a look.

“Yeah it is”, Billy quickly agreed. He then led the trio over a large yellow metal door where he placed his lanyard against a panel next to it.

“Agent Koenig”, a female robotic voice said as the door slid open. Hayley copied his actions as did the Doctor and Rose. “Agent Tyler. The Doctor. Miss Tyler”, the robotic voice continued. The four of them entered the base.

\--------------

“So did Coulson tell you what it is I’m supposed to be talking to Ward about?” Hayley asked as they walked.

“He did”, Billy said and handed her a tablet with a man’s profile on it “this apparently is the bulletproof assassin they encountered on the mission.

“Bulletproof? Seriously?” Rose asked incredulously.

“Yep”, Billy confirmed.

“Carl Creel”, Hayley read aloud “can absorb any material and transform the molecules in his body into that substance”, she muttered “explains how he’s ‘bulletproof’”. She then stopped, an angry expression appeared on her face.

“Hayley, what’s wrong?” the Doctor asked. Wordlessly she showed him the part that suddenly made her angry. “Thought we’d never have to deal with that man again”, he said reading that John Garrett was the supervising Agent for Creel.

“Even though he is dead, he’s still not finished messing with us”, Hayley said bitterly.

“Maybe I should talk to Coulson, get him to have someone else talk to Ward”, the Doctor suggested. Knowing what that man had done, he would never have made her talk to him. That just wasn’t right.

“The only other person Ward will talk to is my twin and she’s busy at the moment”, Hayley said “so that just leaves me” she turned to Billy “what’s the security measures to Vault D?” she asked. The brunette was told that was where Ward was being held but she didn’t know what there was to prevent him from escaping.

Billy took the tablet from her and brings up the features of Vault D. “There’s an internal confinement laser barrier down there, which is cool”, he said. He then showed her the screen “Now this button turns it soundproof”, he pointed to it “This button makes it opaque”.

“Got it”, Hayley said. They stopped outside Vault D where Billy gave her the tablet. She hesitated with her hand on the door handle. _Pull yourself together! Coulson needs this intel_ the brunette thought. She took a breath and entered the vault.

“We can watch from Coulson’s office”, Billy said and led the Doctor and Rose down the hall. Though the Time Lord did cast a concerned glance at Vault D’s door. He hoped that Ward didn’t say anything that would upset his girl but if he did, he would have to answer to HIM.

\-------------

Hayley walked down the steps and stopped in front of the barrier, glaring at her former SO. Ward turned to face her. “Hello Hayley”, he said. The brunette didn’t greet him back, she just sat down in the chair that was stationed in front of Ward’s prison. “I told Coulson weeks ago that I was willing to speak to either you or Skye, to give you intelligence”, Ward continued “Why now? Something bad happen?”

“Carl Creel. Garrett reported him dead. Turns out he’s alive”, Hayley stated, getting down to business. She had no interest in talking to him about anything else. The quicker she got the information from him, the quicker she can leave “Do you have any information on that?”

“How have you been? How’s Skye?” Ward asked. Hayley picked up the tablet and stood up. She turned to leave when Ward spoke again “The name sounds familiar. Do you have a picture?”

Hayley brought up the profile, turned back to face Ward and held up the tablet. He moved closer to the barrier to get a good look, yellow laser grid appearing due to his proximity to it. Hayley’s gaze was caught by the scar on his arm. Ward looked down at it and then back up at Hayley.

“I went through a…rough stretch”, he admitted holding up both of his arms showing her that there was a scar on both limbs. “First pair of pants they gave me had a – a button on the back” he touched the wrist of his left hand running a finger on the scar “They took that away. But, you fold a piece of paper just right, it gets sharp” he indicated the scar on his right wrist “When they took that away, I started running at the walls”. He moved his hair aside and shows her a scar on his forehead.

“You should’ve run faster”, Hayley said, not really caring at the fact that he had been self-harming.

“I’m through all that”, Ward continued “When I came out of sedation I was clear headed, accepting…of who I am, what I’ve done, and why. Your arms tell a different story”, Ward took note of them “I see May’s training you. She’s got you favoring your left side first cause you’re right handed. Smart”, he remarked. 

“I’m gonna say this once. I’m not gonna believe a word that comes out of your mouth”, Hayley told him “But if a single word is about anything other than the question that I’m asking, I walk”.

Ward holds up his hands to her and takes a step back. “Ok”, he said, agreeing to her terms “Creel was a boxer, nicknamed The Crusher. Turns out any opponent has a glass jaw when you have steel fists under your gloves”, he explained “Garrett thought he’d be an asset. Now, once Creel touches a substance, he can absorb it and somehow consciously transform the molecules of his body into that substance. He wouldn’t tell us how, but he enjoys the way it feels. Almost as much as he enjoys killing”.

“You two must have gotten along great”, Hayley said dryly. Ward took a deep breath, seeming to be hurt by her words. “Well, this was fun but pointless. We’ve already figured that stuff out, so if you don’t know where to find him, then –“ she turned away from him again.

“Wait”, Ward said making her stop again “When HDYRA was communicating with SHIELD we’d use white noise in the gaps between SHIELD’s quantum key distribution channels to hide messages. Now, SHIELD might be gone but not those frequencies. If HYDRA’s giving commands to Creel, that’ll be how”.

“We’ll see”, Hayley said not looking back at him.

“It’s true”, Ward insisted “and so will be every word I say to you and your sister for the rest of my life. I’m not asking for forgiveness…”

“Good”, Hayley said finally turning to him “because you’re not going to get it from me. Not now, not ever”.

“I understand. I don’t except you to forgive me”, Ward said “I just want to help you and Skye. When that information proves true, I hope you’ll come back “There’s so much I want to tell you about…“ Ward broke off when the barrier of his prison became solid. He sighed “…your father”, he said quietly.

\------------------

Hayley paused outside of Coulson’s office and took a breath, trying to will her hands to stop shaking from her chat with Ward. Though she’d portrayed a calm exterior, she was anything but. She wanted nothing more than to vent at the traitor, demanding why he decided to tear their team apart.

“Now, I can ping an echo request, see if there’s other receivers out there. How many HYDRA agents can communicate this way”, she heard Eric said. _So he was telling the truth_ Hayley thought bitterly. She took another breath and stepped into the office.

“So he’s telling the truth”, Hayley stated, none too happy about it.

“Looks like it”, Coulson agreed “Thank you”.

“I guess that visit was the first of many, huh?” Hayley said.

“No”, the Doctor said “that’s your only visit”.

“Doctor, Ward will only talk to Skye or Hayley”, Coulson reminded him.

“Then get Skye to talk to him from now on”, the Doctor said “she’s not going back in there”.

“That’s not your call to make. We all have to do things that are uncomfortable”, Coulson countered.

“Putting my girl in a room with the man who betrayed you all AND killed her friend is hardly what call uncomfortable “, the Doctor said raising his voice a little. Rose shot shocked look at her adopted sister. She didn’t know that she’d lost a friend. What else happened in the months she was away? “She’s never going to talk to him again”.

“I am the Director of SHIELD….” Coulson started.

“I don’t care”, the Doctor shot back “Hayley isn’t going back in there and that’s final”. He gave Coulson a look that practically dared the man to challenge him. Thankfully the S.H.I.EL.D agent turned Director knew better than to continue the matter especially when the Time Lord showed even the tiniest hint of the Oncoming Storm.

“I’ll get Skye to go in there next time”, Coulson reluctantly agreed.

“Good”, the Doctor said “now if there isn’t anything else you need Hales to do, we’re gonna leave”. There was a bit of tense silence before Coulson nodded his consent. The Doctor took Hayley’s hand and led her out of the room, Rose following.

“Give me a ring if you need anything!” the brunette called as they left the room.

\--------------- 

As soon as the Doctor put the TARDIS in the Time Vortex, Hayley headed straight for her training room. The Doctor and Rose exchanged concerned looks. “Her talk with Ward seems to have really affected her”, the blonde murmured.

“You have no idea”, the Doctor said “she’s been through so much…”

“Maybe she needs someone to let her know that she’s not alone”, Rose said looking pointedly at the Doctor. Normally she’d be the first one to comfort her sister but she felt this time it should be the Doctor. the Time Lord nodded and walked out of the console room.

When he reached the training room however, he found his girlfriend sitting on the mats, crying. The Doctor went over to her and sat down, putting his arms around her. “We were a team and a family”, Hayley sobbed “and HE betrayed us! He tore us apart! I hate him so much!”

The Doctor’s arms tightened around her “I know”, he said softly “and I promise you, you’ll never have to feel this hurt again”.

“You can’t promise that”, Hayley sniffled “its impossible to keep”.

“No promise is impossible to keep when it comes to you” Hayley looked up at him “I love you. and no matter who I become, that will never, ever change”. The brunette’s heart warmed at those words and she kissed him.

“What’s wrong?” Hayley asked seeing the face he made when she pulled back.

“New lips…not used to them”, the Doctor admitted.

“Would you like me to help you get used to them?” Hayley questioned. The Doctor smiled at her.

“I would love you to”, he said “but not here. Somewhere a tad more comfortable”. The Doctor stood up, pulling her with him. They walked to the bedroom they now shared ever since Antarctica. As soon as the door was closed, the Doctor led Hayley over to the bed and sat down on it, tugging her onto his lap.

The kiss started off as rather soft and unsure on the Doctor’s part. But within minutes he was used to his ‘new lips’ and they were kissing with as much passion as they’d done in his previous regeneration. However, the Doctor was rather eager to take it further.

He nudged her lips with his tongue and Hayley parted them, allowing the organ slide inside her mouth. Hayley emitted a low moan as his tongue explored her mouth, her eyes fluttering shut as it did so. Eventually they parted both breathing heavily. “What?” the Doctor asked as Hayley traced his jawline with her fingers, her eyes seemingly studying his face.

“Just taking in the new you”, she replied “it’s so different and yet there’s one thing that hasn’t changed”.

“What’s that?” the Doctor questioned, stroking the sides of her waist.

“The way you look at me as if I’m the most fascinating thing in the universe”, Hayley explained softly.

“That’s because you are fascinating”, the Doctor told her “and beautiful”, he kissed her forehead “And badass”, he kissed her nose “And all mine” he then kissed her on the lips, putting as much love into it as she could.

“All yours”, Hayley mumbled in agreement against his lips. She pulled back a little “So what did May and Coulson think of the new you?”

“Coulson was very surprised and a little shocked”, the Doctor replied “he didn’t even believe it was me at first despite the fact that I was with Rose”.

“How did you convince him?” Hayley asked.

“I told him about the first time we met at Downing Street. I also mentioned all those other times I’ve been there with you and the team. GH25…Garrett’s big reveal…”

“And he believed that you were in fact the Doctor after that?” Hayley questioned.

The Doctor nodded “yep, he did and I think May believed me too”, he said “though she didn’t show much surprise when I first walked in the room”, he added.

“May isn’t one for showing emotions too often”, Hayley remarked “and as for convincing people, you’ll probably have to do that a few more times”.

“Really? I hate explaining the same thing too many times”, the Doctor said with a whine.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to help”, Hayley assured him earning her a grin and a kiss from the Doctor. She then started to climb off his lap, making him tighten his grip on her waist.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“To find my sister. She’ll be wondering where we’ve gotten to”, Hayley answered.

“Nah she won’t. For all she knows I’m still comforting you”, the Doctor waved her off “come on, a little longer. Please?”

Hayley looked at him and his quite frankly adorable pouting face and sighed “Fine, a little bit longer”, she said earning her another smile from the Time Lord.

“Good”, the Doctor said, manoeuvring them so that they were laying down on the bed before kissing her again.

\------------

Rose was making herself a cup of tea when the Doctor and Hayley wandered into the kitchen, smiles on their faces, the Time Lord’s arm around her waist. “Hey Hales”, she greeted “you ok?”

“Yeah I’m fine”, Hayley answered and glanced at up the Doctor with a smile “more than fine in fact”. Rose looked at the pair quizzically when the Time Lord returned Hayley’s smile. They seemed to be a lot closer than before and she didn’t mean physically. It made her wonder what happened while the Doctor was comforting her sister.

“Do you guys fancy a cuppa?” Rose asked making them look at her.

“Sure”, Hayley answered and the blonde turned to the kettle.

“Sounds good to me”, the Doctor agreed. The pair sat at the table and waited for Rose to be done making their hot drinks.

“So what are our plans then?” Rose questioned pouring out water into the mugs and dunking a tea bag in each “where are we off too next?”

“I was thinking of somewhere a bit further than we’ve been before”, the Doctor replied.

“And when might that be?” Hayley queried as Rose added milk to the mugs.

“The year five billion and twenty three”, the Doctor answered.

Rose glanced the Doctor surprised “we’re going somewhere only 23 years after the world ended?” she asked. 

“Where’s your sense of adventure Doctor?” Hayley teased.

“I have plenty of that Hales”, the Doctor said. He leaned closer to her “I showed you in our room”, he whispered earning a blush from the brunette at what he was implying “and I’d be happy to show even more”.

“Later”, Hayley whispered back, still a blush on her face. The Doctor smiled and pecked on the lips.

“Fantastic”, he murmured.

 _Am I missing something?_ Rose thought watching the interaction and noting how her sister blushed at something the Doctor had said to her. She picked up the mugs and set them down on the table before she took one of the other free chairs. “Is there something I should know about?” she asked.

“I don’t think there’s anything”, Hayley answered. She glanced at the Doctor “can you think of anything?”

The Time Lord shook his head “nope, can’t think of anything either”, he replied.

“Uh huh”, Rose said not quite believing them. Hayley felt bad for not telling her adoptive sister about the development in her relationship but as it had quite literally happened a few hours ago, she just wanted to keep it between herself and the Doctor for now. She would tell Rose at a later date.

She picked up one of the mugs “here’s to the year five billion and twenty three and to our future trips wherever they may take us”, Hayley said. The Doctor and Rose raised their mugs and tapped it against hers.

\----------

When the TARDIS finally materialised, it appeared in a grassy field on the outskirts of a futuristic city. Rose’s mouth dropped open when she stepped out of the blue box, gaping up at the cars zooming overhead. “Lola wouldn’t look too much out of place here”, Hayley remarked eyeing the vehicles in the sky thinking about Coulson’s beloved red corvette which was tricked out with all sorts of bells and whistles including flight mode.

“So this is in the year five billion and twenty three”, Rose breathed still in awe.

“Yep”, the Doctor confirmed “We're in the galaxy M87, and this New Earth”.

“New Earth?” Hayley repeated “this is where everyone moved to before the earth was destroyed” she sniffed the air “and whats that smell?” It smelled of…apples?

The Doctor knelt down and plucked a few blades of grass “Apple grass”, he said showing the sisters.

“Apple grass”, Rose laughed, in delight. She took in their surroundings again “Oh, I love this”, she proclaimed “Can I just say, travelling with you, I love it”.

“Me too”, Hayley agreed “and I love you”. The Doctor put an arm around her waist and kissed her.

“I love you too”, the Time Lord said. He moved his hand from her waist to grip her hand “Come on, time to explore!” He led her off across the grass, Rose hurrying after them.

Eventually the trio came to a stop where the Doctor shrugged off his coat and laid it on the apple grass. He flopped down on it, tugging Hayley down with him. Rose sat down on the spare bit of clothing, resting on her elbows. “So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted”, the Doctor said after a moment, placing his hand on Hayley’s back while she rested her head on his chest.

“Our first trip”, Rose remarked.

“We had chips”, the Doctor added “anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars”, the Doctor continued “Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in”.

“What's the city called?” Rose asked nodding over at it.

“New New York”, the Doctor answered.

“Really?” Hayley asked, surprised.

“Well…strictly speaking it’s the New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York”, the Doctor amended.

“That would be quite a mouthful to say and not really sensible to put on signs so calling it New New York makes sense”, Hayley mused aloud.

“Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?” Rose asked. The Doctor nudged Hayley, silently asking her to move which she did.

“I thought we might go there first”, the Time Lord said sitting up and pointing at an elegant pair of curved skyscrapers standing apart from the city.

“Why, what is it?” Hayley questioned also sitting up and squinting at the buildings.

“Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals”, the Doctor explained, getting to his feet, the females following suit. He picked up his coat, put it on and pulled out his psychic paper. “I got this. A message on the psychic paper” The Doctor showed Rose and Hayley the black wallet.

_Ward 26_

_Please come_

“Do you know who sent it?” Hayley asked.

The Doctor shook his head “no idea. Only way to find out is to go to ward 26”, he answered.

“Hmm”, Rose hummed thoughtfully “And I thought we were just sight-seeing. Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes”. She linked her arm with Hayley’s, the brunette taking hold of the Doctor’s hand and they walked off. Unbeknownst to them, a familiar little robotic spider watched them leave.

In the basement of the hospital, Cassandra sneered at the blonde female on the screen. “Rose Tyler! I knew it”, she spat “That assassin” she eyed the brunette female in the middle “oh, she is perfect”.

“They are coming here, mistress”, Chip commented.

“This is beyond coincidence”, Cassandra’s lips curled into a smirk “This is destiny. At last I can be revenged on that little beast AND get hold of a body at the same time”.

\--------------

When they reached the hospital, the Doctor hesitated. “You ok?” Hayley asked as a look of unease flickered across his face.

“Yeah”, the Doctor answered.

“You sure?” Rose questioned “cos you kinda look a little…uneasy”.

“Hospital’s give me the creeps”, the Doctor mumbled.

“That one with the gasmasks gave _me_ the creeps”, Hayley shuddered “but this one doesn’t look so bad” she took the Doctor’s hand “we’ll make this a nice quick visit, ok? And if someone so much as looks at you funny, they’ll have me to deal with”.

The Doctor managed to crack a smile at this “thanks”, he said. He took a breath and pulled open one of the doors to the hospital. They stepped inside.

“It very smart. Not exactly NHS”, Rose remarked as they walked, taking in the very pristine reception area.

“No cafe. I like a little café”, the Doctor commented, disappointed. He was seriously craving pie now. Actually, he’d been wanting pie for a while but the TARDIS didn’t seem to have any in the kitchen, much to his annoyance.

“Is a little café your new thing?” Hayley questioned “like Banana’s as your previous-self?”

“Nah, I just want pie”, the Doctor told her “café’s have pie. Most of them anyway”.

“I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything”, Rose piped up, changing the subject.

“The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war”, the Doctor explained. A couple of cats wearing a mix between nurse and nun garments walked past, Hayley eyeing them curiously while her sister gaped at them.

“They're cats”, she stated “Hales, they’re cats”.

“I can see that”, Hayley said “don’t stare at them Rosie, we must look pretty strange to them too”.

“How are you not surprised by that?” Rose asked her sister quietly, noting that she showed little surprise to the feline nurse-nuns.

“I’ve seen stranger”, she said not at all fazed by it. The Slitheen were much stranger looking than cat nurse-nun’s, not to mention the Chitauri _and_ the Dark Elves.

“That's where I'd put the shop. Right there”, the Doctor suddenly said, pointing to a random spot, making the sisters look over at what he was pointing at. He then slipped into a lift, alone. “Ward 26, thanks!” he said.

“Hey! Wait!” Hayley called grabbing Rose’s hand and dragged her over to the lift but she was too slow, the lift doors had already closed.

“Oh, too late. I'm going up”, the Doctor said, his voice muffled by the doors.

“It's all right, there's another lift”, Rose said spying another one next to it. She and Hayley stepped into the lift.

“Ward 26 please”, the brunette said and the lift doors slid closed. The sisters exchanged looks when the lift started going down, instead of up. However, before either of them could remark, the tannoy announced

_Commence stage one disinfection_

Rose and Hayley yelped a shower of liquid rained down on them. Then they were assaulted by large puffs of white foam. Next came several blow dryers which whipped at their clothes and hair. Rose run her fingers through her hair while Hayley fixed her ponytail.

When the lift doors opened, the pair stepped out into a corridor littered with rubbish. “I don’t think this is Ward 26”, Rose said.

“Definitely not”, Hayley said, taking out her ICER “Stay close” and proceeded cautiously down the corridor. Rose followed but not before she snatched up a metal rod, clutching it tightly in her hands. She collided with her adopted sister’s back. Rose looked over Hayley’s shoulder to see a pale man with markings all over his skin standing there.

“The human children are clean”, he declared before turning and walking back the way he came.

“Do we follow?” Rose asked.

“We follow”, Hayley confirmed “stay alert and if I tell you to run, you do it”.

“But-“

“No ‘buts’ Rose”, Hayley said sternly “I don’t want you getting hurt. So promise me, you’ll run if I tell you to”.

Rose nodded “I promise Hayley”, she vowed.

Hayley nodded, once “good”, she said and continued down the hall making sure that Rose stayed close to her. The pair eventually emerged from the corridor into a room where an old film was playing.

“ _I mean, you never know what your life is going to be like, ever. I'm bored with this drink”_ , a pretty looking woman said. Rose’s eyes widened. She knew that voice anywhere.

“Wait a minute, that's…” she started.

“Peekaboo!” Cassandra called making both girls whirl around. Immediately Hayley pointed her weapon at the skin trampoline, Rose doing the same with her metal rod.

“Don't you come anywhere near us, Cassandra”, Rose warned.

“Why? What do you think I'm going to do? Flap you to death?” Cassandra scoffed. 

“Try it and it’ll be the last thing you do”, Hayley shot back “actually, I _dare_ you to do it. Any reason to blast you to pieces for trying to kill my sister last time”. Cassandra actually looked scared at how angry the brunette looked. 

“So, what’s Gollum then?” Rose questioned, nodding at the humanoid.

“Oh…that's just Chip. He's my pet”, Cassandra answered rather dismissively. 

“I worship the mistress”, Chip said smiling at Cassandra.

“Moisturise me, moisturise me”, she ordered. Chip picked up a canister and squirts Cassandra with it. “He's not even a proper life form. He's a force grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful”, Cassandra explained “Chip sees to my physical needs”.

Rose made a face “I hope that means food”, she muttered.

“You and me both”, Hayley agreed “but I think the question of the hour is, how did you survive?”

“After you murdered the Doctor murdered me…” Cassandra began when Hayley snippily interrupted her.

“Uh, excuse me, he didn’t murder you. According to him and my sister, you’re the idiot who raised the temperature”

“She’s right”, Rose agreed “it was your own fault”.

“The brain of my mistress survived”, Chip spoke up “and her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin”.

“But what about the skin?” Hayley questioned “you quite literally exploded”. 

“Only the front was destroyed. This piece is the back”, Cassandra told them.

Rose and Hayley sniggered “you’re talking out of your…” the blonde started when abruptly cut off by Cassandra

“Ask not”

“The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted m'lady into the hospital”, Chip continued.

“So they don't know you're here?” Rose questioned.

“If they did, she wouldn’t be here Rosie”, Hayley said.

“But I'm so alone, hidden down here. The last Human in existence”, Cassandra bemoaned.

Hayley rolled her eyes as she remembered what Rose had told her about Cassandra’s claim on being the ‘last human’ “They've called this planet _New Earth_ ”, she said.

“A vegetable patch”, Cassandra sneered.

“And there's millions of Humans out there. Millions of them”, Rose added.

“Mutant stock”, Cassandra spat.

“They _evolved_ , Cassandra”, Hayley retorted “YOU stayed still all pickled and preserved, and what good did it do you? You’ve just become a bitter bloody skin trampoline”.

“Oh, I remember that night. Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace”, Cassandra said, referring to the clip that was playing, pointedly ignoring what Hayley had just said “That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it all became such hard work”.

“Well, you've got a knack for survival, I'll give you that”, Rose commented.

“But I've not been idle, tucked away underneath this hospital. I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something”, Cassandra told them.

“What do you mean?” Hayley asked.

“Oh these cats have secrets. Hush, let me whisper. Come close”, Cassandra said in a low voice.

“You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought if you believe for one second that we’re going anywhere near you”, Hayley said “come on Rose”. She backed up a couple of steps, bringing Rose with her, only to be caught by a machine that binds them both with light so that they cannot move. Not that Hayley and Rose didn’t try.

“Cassandra let us go right now!” the brunette ordered trying in vain to move “Cassandra!!”

“Chip, activate the psychograft!” Cassandra ordered, ignoring Hayley’s shouts. Chip bounded over to a set of controls and pulled a lever causing a cage of light to descend around the pair.

“Hayley your hands!” Rose cried, seeing them glow with a golden light. Hayley smirked, she knew what that meant.

“Last chance Cassandra. Let us go or you’ll be sorry”, Hayley threatened.

“Oh, I’m shaking in my boots”, Cassandra said, voice dripping with sarcasm “there’s nothing you two little beasts can do to me. You cannot get out of the psychograft”.

“Rose, close your eyes. Now”, Hayley said to the blonde and she complied. To Cassandra she said “Don’t say I didn’t warn you” before she released the Time Vortex.

\-----------

Rose groaned as she came to. “Hayley!” she exclaimed seeing her sister laying next to her, still unconscious. She gently shook her shoulder “Hales”, Rose said “Hales wake up!” she said a little louder when she didn’t get a response from the brunette “Hayley please!”

Hayley gasped, her eyes flying open much to Rose’s relief. She cringed as she sat up with the help of her sister as her arms felt rather tender. In fact her whole body felt sore. Must’ve been releasing all that Time Vortex, it was bound to take a toll on her body as it had done in the past.

“W-what are you?” Cassandra stammered, staring at Hayley with wide eyes. Chip was cowering behind her, clearly scared of the brunette.

Hayley slowly got to her feet, Rose quickly jumped up to grab her when she wobbled. “Someone you shouldn’t have tried to trap”, she answered “now the Doctor’s gonna deal with you”. She watched Cassandra’s eyes widen as she brought out her phone and dialled the Time Lord.

 _“Hayley, I was about to call you. What’s taking you and Rose so long?”_ he asked.

“We got side tracked”, Hayley answered.

 _“Are you all right?”_ the Doctor questioned.

“In a manner of speaking”, Hayley replied “you better get down to the basement, there’s something here you need to see”.

 _“I’m on my way”_ , the Doctor said and hung up. Hayley tucked her phone back into her pocket.

“He’s on his way”, she said scooping up her ICER and holstering it. She had no need for it now that Cassandra and Chip seemed to be afraid of her.

The sisters glanced over at the doorway several minutes later when they heard approaching footsteps. Then the Doctor appeared “What did you want me to…” he trailed off when he saw Cassandra “you!”

Hayley stopped him from walking forward “no need to scare her, I’ve done that already by destroying her little contraption” she gestured to the ruins of the psychograft littered over the floor. The Doctor knelt down to examine the pieces.

“What happened here?” he asked.

“We got in the lift but instead of going to Ward 26, we ended up here. Followed the walking doodle” Hayley pointed to Chip “and found Cassandra. Had a little chat with her and was about to leave when she activated this thing” she glanced at her sister “what was it called again Rose?”

“A psychograft”, the blonde replied. An angry expression appeared on the Time Lord’s face. He stood up and faced Cassandra.

“That contraption is banned on every civilised planet. You could compressed either one of them to death”, he said angrily.

“What is a psychograft?” Hayley asked.

“It’s a machine that allows the consciousness of one person to inhabit the body of another”, the Doctor explained.

“Sounds like possession”, Hayley remarked.

“You wanted to possess one of us?!” Rose exclaimed “why?”

“Because the cat nurse-nuns were up to something. I needed a body and the Doctor’s mind to find out what”, Cassandra explained.

“And you decided that we’d be perfect hosts”, Hayley said looking at her with disapproval “if you weren’t a slip of skin I would punch you right now”.

“What were the cat nurse-nuns up to?” the Doctor demanded.

“They were doing something in Intensive Care”, Cassandra replied.

“And how do we get to intensive care?” Hayley questioned.

“There’s a door at the far end of the basement level. Go up several flights of steps and you’ll come to Intensive Care”, Cassandra said.

“Right, you and Rose go find out the medical staff are hiding and put a stop to it”, Hayley instructed “and I’ll stay here, keep an eye on these two”.

“You sure?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah”, Hayley replied “very sure”.

“Don’t let your guard down”, he said quietly in her ear.

“I won’t”, the brunette assured him. Hayley watched the Doctor and Rose leave before turning back to Cassandra and Chip, moving over to block the doorway.

“What was that gold stuff?” Cassandra asked timidly not long after they’d left.

“That was the time vortex”, Hayley replied “its attached to my cells and bonded to bits of my DNA. Not quite sure how but it’s incredibly useful as you saw”. She folded her arms, wincing a little as she did so.

“Seems like it takes a toll on you too”, Cassandra commented.

“All abilities comes with a price”, Hayley stated “as long as I use it properly and responsibly, its worth every single ache”. After those words, they lapsed into somewhat tense silence. They stayed like that until several New New York police officers arrived and took Cassandra and Chip away.

\------------

Several hours later saw Hayley in the library, freshly showered, pulling books off of the shelves that looked like they might help with the task Coulson had for her. She took them over to the desk where her SHIELD issued tablet was, a picture of the weird symbols showing on the screen.

Hayley sat down and started paging through the volumes. Occasional she stopped to compare symbols only to shake her head and keep going. Eventually she’d reached the final book in the stack and so far she’d found nothing. The brunette sat back, tiredly rubbing her face. “I need a break”, she muttered getting up from the desk and heading back into the stacks to find something else she could focus on besides undecipherable symbols.

The brunette ran her fingers over the spines of the books stopping when she reached one that had an intriguing symbol of an eye on it. Hayley carefully pulled out.

“Agamotto: father of the Mystic Arts”, she read aloud. _Hm…could be interesting._ Hayley took it back to the desk and opened it up. She noted a bump under the inside sleeve and when she gave it a careful shake, a small circular disk fell out. Hayley picked it up, turning it this way and that. It was smooth with small etchings around the edge. The middle was a little raised and when she ran her thumb over it, the etchings shimmered gold before a hologram burst from it. Hayley yelped and dropped the disk onto the table having not expected that.

 _“Before creation itself there were 6 singularities”_ a male voice said, it echoing slightly.

Hayley slowly stood up staring at the hologram. On it where 6 circles of what looked like coloured stars, though she noted that each had several shades and tones of one particular colour. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

_“Then the universe exploded into existence…”_

More circles appeared, some showing familiar sights such as the Orion’s Belt and Horsehead Nebula.

_“…and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots... Infinity Stones”._

The brunette watched the coloured stars merge together to form 6 stones.

“Ah, there you are”, the Doctor spoke up, making Hayley jump. She spun around to face him “sorry didn’t mean to startle you”.

“That’s ok. I…um… was distracted by this thing”, Hayley said gesturing to the hologram that was still playing.

“Where did you find that?” the Doctor asked moving forward, pressing the button to deactivate it.

“I found it in this book”, Hayley said, showing him the leather bound book “I was just looking for something different to read and came across this one. I found the hologram thing inside”, she explained “If I wasn’t supposed to see it then I’m sorry”, she quickly added.

“Its ok Hayley. There’s no need to apologise”, the Doctor assured her “if there was something I didn’t want you to see, it would’ve been put away” and Hayley nodded “would you like to know more about the Infinity Stones?”

“Yes, please”, Hayley replied and they sat down at the desk. The Doctor activated the hologram and proceeded to explain the different stones: Mind, Soul, Reality, Time, Power and Space. “I’m not surprised the Time Stone went to your people considering that you a _Time_ Lord”, Hayley remarked.

“Yeah we thought it was rather appropriate too”, the Doctor agreed “but then the war happened and it was no longer safe. I managed to procure it and gave it to Agamotto. He became the ‘father of the Mystic Arts’, built the Sanctum Sanctorums and taught humans how to harness magic. Ever since then the Sorcerer Supreme and his/her members of the Mystic Arts have been protecting Earth from mystical threats as well as guarding the Time Stone” he opened up the book, showing her an image of the Eye of Agamotto “this is what Agamotto created to house the Time Stone in order to safely utilise its power. Its actually based on the container my people made for it”.

“Individually, all of these stones have immense power. So what happens if someone were to use them all together?” Hayley asked.

“The wielder would have unlimited power. They could do absolutely anything they wanted”, the Doctor said seriously.

“Nobody should have that much power”, Hayley said “irrespective of whether they have good intentions”.

“And that’s why this has to stay between us”, the Doctor continued “you cannot tell anyone what I’ve told you”.

“I promise, I wont tell a soul”, Hayley swore.


	3. Queen Victoria and the werewolf

Rose walked into the console room to find Hayley and the Doctor standing by the console talking. “What do you think of this? Will it do?” she asked giving a little spin to show off her outfit which she thought seemed apt for the late 1970’s.

“Very nice Rosie. You’ll blend in”, Hayley answered.

“Thanks”, Rose said, pleased by her answer “I thought you were gonna change into that jumpsuit thing?” she asked, noting how her sister was wearing modern clothing instead.

“Well, I was but I uh got a little distracted with some work Coulson needed me to do”, Hayley admitted “so I forgot”.

“Fair enough”, Rose said and Hayley relaxed, glad that she bought the excuse. _I’ll tell her soon_ the brunette thought. “So, where in the late 1970’s are we going?” the blonde questioned.

“Ian Dury concert and the Top Rank”, the Doctor replied “unless you two wanna do something else”.

“A concert sounds like fun to me”, Hayley said.

“Couldn’t agree more”, Rose put in.

“A concert it is. 1979, off we go!” the Doctor said and with that he pulled a lever to send the TARDIS off to their destination. Hayley had to quickly grab hold of the console and Rose when the room lurched, causing the pair to stumble.

The ship shuddered and lurched for a few minutes before it jolted to a stop, throwing the trio to the floor. “You two alright?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah I’m fine”, Hayley replied.

“Me too”, Rose agreed.

The Time Lord stood up and helped the two females to their feet. “1979. One hell of a year”, he remarked as he walked toward the ramp “China invades Vietnam…the Muppet Movie. Love that film. Margaret Thatcher…Urgh…Skylab falls to Earth, with a little help from me…nearly took off my thumb” the Doctor pulled open the door “And I like my thumb” he showed Rose and Hayley his thumb.

Hayley took his hand, pressing a soft kiss on his thumb “I like your thumb too”, she said earning her a smile from the Doctor. Hand in hand they walked out of the TARDIS, Rose following and straight into several Scottish soldiers who pointed their weapons at the three of them. Promptly they raised their hands.

“1879”, the Doctor realised “Same difference”.

“No it isn’t”, Hayley said “that’s a whole century out”.

“You will explain your presence”, Captain Reynolds ordered “And the nakedness of this girl” he eyed Rose who shifted about on the spot uncomfortably, tugging the bottom of her skirt.

“Tell you what, I’ll explain our presence when you and your mates stop pointing your weapons at us”, the Doctor shot back “cos I’m really tired of seeing guns being pointed at my girl”.

“Identify yourselves”, Captain Reynolds demanded, his soldiers moving closer to the trio.

“I’m Hayley Tyler”, the brunette spoke up when the Doctor took a step forward, his eyes narrowing at the soldiers “this is my younger sister Rose and my fiancé, Doctor John Smith. We have credentials if you need to see them, right honey?”

The Doctor took out his psychic paper and showed it to Captain Reynolds. “There you go”, he said “as you can see I spent a little time in Scotland training under Doctor Bell, himself”.

“Let them approach”, came a highly sophisticated upper class voice from the carriage.

“I don't think that's wise, ma'am”, Captain Reynolds said, still a little suspicious of the three time travellers.

“Let them approach”, the voice repeated.

“You will approach the carriage, and show all due deference”, Captain Reynolds instructed. The Doctor nods to indicate that he understood and then he, Hayley and Rose walked toward the carriage where a footman opened the door to reveal none other than Queen Victoria herself.

“Rose, Hayley, might I introduce her Majesty Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith”, the Doctor said.

Rose did a small curtsy while Hayley opted for a slight bow. “Pleasure to meet you ma’am”, the brunette said politely “Hayley Tyler. And this is my sister Rose. I would like to apologise for her nakedness”.

“I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me”, Victoria said, waving her off “Doctor Smith, show me these credentials”, she ordered. The Time Lord handed over the psychic paper to her. The Queen studies it for a moment before handing it back “Why didn't you say so immediately? It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my Protector”, Victoria stated.

“Slipped my mind”, the Doctor stated “out of curiosity, why is Your Majesty travelling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen?” he questioned.

“A tree on the line”, Victoria answered.

“An accident?” the Doctor pressed.

“Not to speak out of turn…” Hayley spoke up “but she is the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. So its highly likely that it was an attempt to divert her onto a more dangerous path…a potential assassination attempt”. Normally, she wouldn’t have spoken up like that because it would’ve been a bit disrespectful. However, thanks to her background in history, she was very familiar with Queen Victoria and the numerous attempts on her life.

“Quite an astute observation Miss Tyler”, Victoria remarked. A blush appeared on Hayley’s face at her implication that she was the Doctor’s ‘wife’. The Time Lord on the other hand couldn’t help but smile to himself. He didn’t mind her being called his missus one bit. Neither of them corrected Victoria though.

“What, seriously?” Rose gaped at the royal “There's people out to kill ya?”

“I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun”, Victoria told the blonde.

“Sir Robert MacLeish lives but ten miles hence. We've sent word ahead. He'll shelter us for tonight, then we can reach Balmoral tomorrow”, Captain Reynolds informed the monarch.

“This Doctor, his fiancé and her sister…timorous beastie will come with us”, Victoria declared.

“Yes, Ma'am”, Captain Reynolds agreed “We'd better get moving it's almost nightfall”.

“Indeed. And there are stories of wolves in these parts. Fanciful tales intended to scare the children. But good for the blood, I think. Drive on!” the footman closed the door to the carriage and it set off, the Doctor, Hayley and Rose following after it with the soldiers.

“It's funny though, because you say assassination and you just think of Kennedy and stuff. Not her”, Rose said after a while of walking in silence.

“1879…she's had…” the Doctor started when Hayley cut in with

“She’s had about 6 attempts on her life”

“How do you know that?” Rose asked.

“I studied history, remember?” Hayley replied “Along with archaeology”.

“The first archaeologist I didn’t laugh at”, the Doctor added.

“First one you fell in love with too”, Hayley countered.

“First _and_ last. There’s no one else I want”, the Doctor told her “I love you and only you”.

In response, Hayley grabbed him by his tie and pulled him down slightly for a kiss “I love you too”, she stated. A smile appeared on Rose’s face at this. She was happy that they were together even if she was still getting used to it.

~Courtyard~

As soon as they reached Robert’s home, a footman opened the door to Queen Victoria’s carriage and helped her out. Sir Robert exited his home followed by a bald man dressed as a butler.

“Your Majesty”, Robert greeted, bowing.

“Sir Robert. My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?” Victoria enquired.

“She's indisposed, I'm afraid”, Robert replied “She's gone to Edinburgh for the season. And she's taken the cook with her. The kitchens are barely stocked. I wouldn't blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride on”.

Hayley eyed him curiously. Was it her or did Sir Robert not want the Queen to stay at his home? If so, what was the reason behind it?

“Oh, not at all”, Victoria said “I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is charming, if rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often. The Torchwood Estate. Now, shall we go inside?” Robert reluctantly nods “And please excuse the naked girl”, the monarch added.

“Sorry”, Rose muttered.

“Shall we proceed?” the Queen suggested and Robert nodded. The pair went into the very large home.

\---------------

The tour of the grand place began in the observatory which housed a rather large and impressive looking telescope. “This, I take it, is the famous Endeavour”, Victoria stated.

“All my father's work. Built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession. He spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself”, Robert explained.

The Doctor smiled. From the way the man spoke about his father, it was just the kind of person he would’ve like to have met and he remarked as such before gesturing to the telescope “That thing's beautiful. Can I um…?”

“Help yourself”, Robert said.

The Doctor, Rose and Hayley move forward to examine it and the fair sized wheel next to it. Though Hayley wasn’t really looking at the telescope so much as to use the reflective surface of it to watch the butler and the two household staff that was with him. There was something not quite right about them. They were bald and not even their garb could disguise the fact that they had an athletic build. Could they have something to do with why Robert didn’t want the Queen to stop at his home?

“What did he model it on?” the Doctor asked glancing back at Robert.

Robert shrugged “I know nothing about it. To be honest, most of us thought him a little…shall we say, eccentric”, he admitted “I wish now I'd spent more time with him and listened to his stories”.

The Doctor frowned as he peered through it. It was all wrong. There were too many prisms for a normal telescope and the magnification was _way_ over the top! But why? “Its well crafted”, he remarked.

“And the imagination of it should be applauded”, Victoria added.

Rose hummed “Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty”, she said “Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful?” Victoria just stared at her “You could easily…not be amused, or something…?” Hayley raised her brows at her words. _Was she really trying to get the Queen to say ‘I am not amused?’_ she thought _cos its not gonna end well_. “No?”

“This device surveys the infinite work of God”, Victoria said, curtly “What could be finer? Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath, steeped in astronomy and sciences, yet equally well versed in folklore and fairy tales”.

“Sounds familiar”, Hayley muttered glancing at the Doctor. He met her gaze and smiled knowing she meant himself.

“I like your father more and more, Sir Robert”, he declared.

“Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company”, Victoria remarked “Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from Saxe Coburg”.

“That's Bavaria”, Hayley said quietly to Rose.

The Queen turned to Robert “When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported”, she told him.

“So, what's this wolf, then?” the Doctor asked.

“It's just a story”, Robert said dismissively.

“Then there’s no harm in telling it”, the Doctor told her.

“It's said that…” Robert started when his butler cut in with

“Excuse me, sir. Perhaps her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark”

“Of course”, Robert agreed “Yes, of course”.

“And then supper”, Victoria spoke up “And…could we find some clothes for Miss Tyler? I'm tired of nakedness”.

“It's not amusing, is it?” Rose stated. Victoria glanced around at her but decides to ignore her comment. She then turned back to Robert.

“Sir Robert, your wife must have left some clothes. See to it. We shall dine at seven, and talk some more of this wolf. After all…there is a full moon tonight”, she said.

“So there is, Ma'am”, Robert said and bowed to the monarch and she left the room, followed by the others.

\-----------

Even though Hayley didn’t need to change thanks to her choice in clothing keeping her fairly covered, she still decided to help her sister pick out the right outfit to wear for dinner. Rose pulled out a brown dress from the wardrobe and held it to herself. “You need something with a little more colour”, Hayley remarked.

“You’re right”, Rose agreed and put the dress back. She then took out a frilly blouse “how about this?” she asked Hayley.

“God no!” the brunette said snatching out of her hand and tossing it into the wardrobe “and stay in there!” Rose giggled at her adopted sister’s antics. Hayley rifled through the clothing before selecting a blue velvet dress.

“Good choice”, Rose said, approving of it “you gonna wear a dress?” she asked setting it down on the bed.

“I don’t think so, Rose”, Hayley replied.

“Come on, Hales, you gotta! Please? For me?” Rose clasped her hands together and pouted at her until she sighed.

“Ok, fine!” Hayley said “I’ll put on a dress. But none of those are doing it for me” she pointed to the garments in the wardrobe.

“Well then let’s check this one”, Rose said crossing the room and pulling open the other wardrobe door. The blonde let out a scream, causing Hayley to rush over to her side, pulling the teen behind her before realising that it was just a frightened maid who’d startled Rose.

“It’s alright”, Hayley said gently, holding out a hand “we wont hurt you”. The maid, Flora, took her hand and Hayley helped her up. She and Rose steered her over to the bed, sitting her down on it. There, Flora explained everything. Hayley nodded along, pleased to be finally getting some answers as to why the household staff looked so out of place.

“Listen…we’ve got a friend. He's called the Doctor. He'll know what to do”, Rose said “You've got to come with us”.

“Oh, but I can't, Miss”, Flora protested.

“Yes, you can Miss…what’s your name?” Rose asked.

“Flora”, Flora supplied.

“Flora, you’d be perfectly safe with us. My sister here is a bit of a badass”, Rose informed the maid.

“Trust me, I can and _will_ protect you”, Hayley took her hand “I’ve dealt with ways worse than fighting monks”.

“She has”, Rose confirmed.

“Flora, I swear to you, nothing is going to hurt you. I wont let it”, Hayley continued. Flora nodded, feeling some comfort in her words.

“Alright, I’ll go with you”, Flora said.

“Good”, Hayley said standing up and going over to the door “I’ll take point. Rose, you keep hold of Flora’s hand. And both of you stay close to me” she rested her hand on the door handle but didn’t open it.

“Hayley, you ok?” Rose asked noticing her hesitation.

“It’s times like this that I wish I brought one of my weapons with me”, Hayley remarked “oh, well. May mentioned that my hand to hand needs a bit more work”. She took a breath, pulled open the door and cautiously stepped out. Hayley looked up and down the corridor and then gestured to the two females that it was safe to leave the room.

Leading the way, Hayley walked down the hall, Rose and Flora following closely behind. The trio rounded a corner only to find a guard lying on the floor unconscious. “I did warn you!” Flora cried. Hayley crouched down, touching two fingers to his neck. She felt a pulse.

“He’s not dead”, she reported “just unconscious”. Suddenly the butler came up from behind Flora, grabbing her, pressing a hand over her mouth to stifle her screams as she’s dragged away.

“Hayley!” Rose cried as she was grabbed as well. Hayley stood up, whirling around, hand going for her ICER but of course it wasn’t there. She started after them when a hand latched around her wrist.

Hayley swung around, first clenched but that hand was grabbed too. She kicked the disguised monk as hard as she could in the groin. He let her go and she knocked him down with a blast of time vortex. He barely hit the floor when she took off to find her sister.

“You’ve go to be kidding me”, Hayley complained when she ran into four more disguised monks “ok boys, lets do this”. She dropped into a fighting stance as the monks rushed at her. Punches and kicks were exchanged, Hayley receiving more due to the number of opponents but she didn’t let up. Rose was depending on her.

She cried out as she was knocked to the floor for the nth time, one of the monks pressing his foot on her back. “Give up little girl”, he sneered “you can’t win”. As she lay on the carpet, May’s words came back to her.

_Anger can help you in a fight but it doesn’t last. That’s why you only use it when you need it the most to get an edge over your opponent. So you need to mine it…save it…and when the moment comes you can quiet literally give them hell._

The brunette remembered that after those words, May had given her a smile which hardly ever happened. Hayley’s hands curled into fists, already starting to shimmer with the time vortex. “Yes. I. Can”, she gritted out and with extreme effort, twisted around, throwing a blast of the gold stuff at the monk who’d held her down. Hayley then flipped to her feet chucking even more of it at the other three monks. “I win”, she said as they toppled like bowling pins. She rubbed her arms, wincing as she did so. Using that much many them feel a little tender but it was worth it. Nobody was going to stop her getting to her sister. Nobody. And speaking of…

Hayley walked over to one of the monks and wrenched him up to a sitting position. “Tell me where your buddies have taken Flora and my sister, right now”, she demanded holding up a glowing fist. Instead of telling her, the monk started to laugh “what’s so funny?”

“Look behind you”, he said before Hayley could do anything, she was struck hard from behind. She let out a cry as she dropped to the floor, unconscious.

\---------------

In the dinning room, the Doctor kept glancing toward the door. Hayley and Rose had yet to show up and it was making him worried. _I better go see if they’re alright_ he thought _and if they’re not…heaven help anyone who laid a finger on them_. “Where are you going Dr Smith?” the Queen asked as he stood up.

“To find my fiancé”, he replied. He strode to the door only for the butler, Father Angelo to stop him.

“I cannot let you leave”, he stated “and your fiancé is already gone”. The Doctor grabbed him, slamming him against the wall, taking out an ICER of his own from his pocket and pressed it against his chest.

“You lie”, he snarled, in full Oncoming Storm “Where is she?!”

“She’s food for the wolf now”, Father Angelo shot back, smug look on his face. The Time Lord quickly wiped it from his face by shooting him twice. He then raced out of the room.

Down in the cellar, Hayley had regained consciousness. “About time”, Rose remarked “we’re in big trouble!”

The brunette sat up and saw what ‘big trouble’ she meant. “Holy crap, is that a werewolf?!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah it is”, Rose confirmed “can you use a little time vortex and get us out?” she eyed the creature nervously “before we’re eaten preferably”.

“No problem”, Hayley said, standing up “you guys might wanna move”, she added to the other captives as she raised her hands at the wall. They quickly scrambled out of the way and she blasted the chain away from it. The brunette was about to destroy the chain itself when the Doctor and Sir Robert burst into the room.

“Let’s get you out of here”, the Doctor said. He and Roberts got her and the other prisoners out of the cellar, slamming the door shut just as the newly shifted werewolf broke out of the cage. They all quickly retreated to the gun room where the Doctor freed Hayley and the others. “Are you ok?” he asked the brunette.

“I’m ticked off but otherwise fine”, Hayley replied “kinda itching to kick the monk’s ass who knocked me out in the first place”.

“I’m ok too by the way”, Rose piped up.

“Good, I’m glad”, the Doctor said though he wasn’t looking away from Hayley “did that werewolf happen to say anything before it wolfed out?”

“The Queen, the Crown, the throne…you name it”, Rose replied. Suddenly there was a loud crash outside. The Doctor darted out to investigate and found that the werewolf was free from the basement. The two stared at one another for a moment before the wolf growled and started toward him. The Doctor ducked back into the room, grabbing Hayley and Rose, pulling them back behind the line of soldiers and male household staff. Isobel and the maids had already gone toward the kitchens to escape the house.

“Fire!” the Steward shouted when the werewolf appeared in the doorway. Rose, flinched and grabbed her adopted sister’s arm when they shot at the creature. Hayley on the other hand didn’t bat an eye as the guns went off. The werewolf stumbled back a few steps. “Fire!” the Steward ordered again.

This second volley of shots causing the room to the filled up with smoke. When it finally cleared the werewolf was no longer there. “All right, you men. We should retreat upstairs”, the Doctor suggested “Come with me”.

The Steward shook his head “I'll not retreat”, his said firmly The battle's done. There's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault”.

“I'm telling you idiot, come upstairs now!” the Doctor shot back, angrily.

“And I'm telling you, sir, I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall”, the Steward insisted. He stepped out into the corridor to look for it and turned back, with a triumphant expression on his face. “It must have crawled away to die”, he declared with a smirk. But the second he said those words, he was pulled through the ceiling. Rose turned into Hayley, burying her face into her shoulder, trying to block out the sounds of the Steward being torn apart.

“There's nothing we can do!” the Doctor said and with that he ushered both Hayley and Rose out of the room. 

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty!” Robert called as they entered another room.

Victoria appeared on the stairs “Sir Robert? What's happening?” she asked, quickly descending the stairs. The Doctor left the sister’s side to check the front door. “I heard such terrible noises”, Victoria continued.

“Your Majesty, we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?” Robert questioned. 

“Captain Reynolds disposed of him”, Victoria replied “after Doctor Smith had knocked him out first”.

“The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut”, the Doctor reported, rushing back into the room “Pardon me, Your Majesty. You'll have to escape through a window”. He gestures through a door and the Queen obliges with her head held high.

~Drawing room~

“Excuse my manners, Ma'am, but I shall go first, the better to assist Her Majesty's egress”, Robert suggested as they stopped by a window.

“A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh”, Victoria remarked.

“Could you hurry it up?” the Doctor demanded, getting impatient “I’d like to leave now”. Robert clambered onto the window sill but was forced to quickly hop off as he was shot at by the monks outside.

“Looks like they don’t want us to get out”, Hayley noted aloud as she glanced out of the window.

“Do they know who I am??” Victoria demanded, voice rising.

“Yeah, that's why they want ya”, Rose spoke up “The wolf's lined you up for a…a biting”.

“Stop this talk”, the Queen said sternly “There can't be an actual wolf”. As soon as she said that, a howl rang through the air. The group hurried out of the room to see one of the doors being repeatedly battered.

“What do we do?” Rose asked eyeing the door worriedly.

“We run”, the Doctor replied.

“Is that it?!” Rose exclaimed.

“You got any silver bullets?” the Doctor shot back.

“We’ve got something better than silver bullets”, Hayley said, her hands already starting to shimmer gold.

“That’s not happening”, the Doctor said, firmly, knowing what she was planning.

“Yes it is”, Hayley shot back “ _I_ will hold the wolf off, you get Rose and the Queen to safety” when the Doctor opened his mouth to say something, she added sharply “This isn’t up for discussion. I’m doing this and that’s final”.

“But you’ve never fought a werewolf before”, Rose stated. She was very aware of how capable her sister was but even so…Hayley was taking a great risk. If she got scratched or god forbid bitten by the creature….she’d get infected. And Rose wouldn’t be able to handle that very well.

“First time for everything I suppose”, Hayley squared her shoulders “now get moving. That door isn’t going hold for much longer”.

Rose looked at the Doctor who was still staring at Hayley, a war of emotions going on inside him. He was feeling worried for what she was about to do…angry because it was something incredibly reckless…and oddly proud. She was a fighter through and through and he never wanted that to change about her. Didn’t mean that he was very tempted to drag her with them to stop her doing something very foolish.

“You heard her”, he eventually said, the prouder side of himself winning. But only just.

“But…” Rose started.

“Rose. Go”, The Doctor said firmly. The blonde nodded and with one last look at her sister, she took off up the stairs with Robert, Captain Reynolds and the Queen.

“You better go too”, Hayley told him.

“I’ll wait for you at the top”, the Doctor said and gave her a kiss “be careful”.

“I will”, Hayley promised and the Time Lord headed off up the stairs. The brunette backed up to the foot of the carpeted steps to give herself plenty off room to fight. She watched cracks appear in the door before it splintered completely. “Here goes”, Hayley muttered, clenching her now brightly glowing gold fists. The werewolf entered and eyed her, emitting a low growl as it did so. “Sorry wolfy. The Queen isn’t on the menu tonight”, Hayley told it. As if the creature could understand her, it grew angrier.

It charged toward her but Hayley unleased all that time vortex she’d been building up, blasting the werewolf back down the hallway whence it came. She heard a faint thud and pained howls which suggested it had struck a wall or something. Not waiting to see if it was going to come back, Hayley bolted up the steps. The second she reached the landing where the Doctor was waiting, the Time Lord pulled her into a hug. “Are you alright?” he asked, checking her over for any signs that the werewolf had hurt her.

“I’m fine. Wolf boy didn’t get within a foot of me before I knocked him into next week with the time vortex”, Hayley assured him.

“Good. That’s good”, the Doctor said pleased about that “though I’d much appreciate it if you could keep the number of risky things like that to a minimum”.

“I’ll try but I keep no promises. I am not only your girlfriend, I’m also a SHIELD agent as well. Doing risky things kinda comes with the job”, Hayley said.

“Well, if I find out you went on another mission similar to the one where you got shot and almost died…your team won’t like the side of me they meet next”, the Doctor told her. It didn’t take a genius to work out the he was referring to his Oncoming Storm persona.

The pair headed off down the corridor. “In here!” Rose called leaning out from a doorway.

“You guys headed into….a library?” Hayley asked entering the room.

“It was the nearest place on this floor”, Robert explained.

“Well, then we better barricade these doors”, Hayley stated “I’ve managed to keep it away for now. But it’ll be back”.

“Good idea”, the Doctor agreed and both he and Robert and Reynolds quickly barricaded the door. “Is that the only door?” he asked.

“Yes”, Robert replied but he quickly changed his answer to “No!”

He and the Time Lord hurried over to the other door and blocked it off. As soon as they’d done that, they heard heavy foot steps outside. “Looks like the wolf has come back”, Rose remarked. Hayley raised her hands and pointing one at each door, ready to fight off the werewolf if it gets in. The group listened to it shuffling around the room.

“It’s not trying to get in, why?” Reynolds asked, pointing his gun at the main door.

“Something inside this room”, the Doctor replied “What is it? Why can't it get in?”

Hayley lowered her hands and slowly approached the main door. She hopped up onto the chair and pressed her ear against the wood. On the other side the wolf sniffed the wood and growls before it leaves. “It's gone”, she reported. _Doesn’t make much sense_ she thought, stepping off the chair _it should’ve been able to break through the door. It’s just wood_.

“I'll tell you what, though”, Rose spoke up.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“Werewolf!” Rose said happily.

“This is no laughing matter Rose”, he scolded “you and Hayley were almost killed by that thing!”

“Sorry”, Rose mumbled.

Robert walked over to one of the chairs by the door and sat down “I'm sorry, Ma'am”, he said quietly “It's all my fault. I should have sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong, I…thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?”

“I noticed”, Hayley admitted “I should’ve said something. If I had…none of those people would have died”.

“Their deaths are not your fault”, The Doctor said gently “besides even if you’d said something, they might still have died. You can’t save everyone”.

“I know”, Hayley sighed “doesn’t mean I won’t stop trying”.

“I know. Its one of the things I love about you”, the Doctor said reaching up and touching her cheek. She leant into his fingers. Rose smiled softly at the pair.

Rose eventually shifted her gaze to Victoria. “I'll tell you what though, Ma'am, I bet you're not amused now”, she remarked. Hayley shot her an incredulous look. After everything that’s happened she’s still trying to get her to say the words? Unbelievable.

“Do you think this is funny?” Victoria asked angrily.

“No, Ma'am. I'm sorry”, Rose said meekly.

“What, exactly, I pray tell me, someone, please. What exactly is that creature?” the monarch demanded.

“It seems to be a werewolf, ma’am”, Hayley answered.

“But technically it's a more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform”, the Doctor added, scratching his head.

“And should I trust you, sir?” Victoria asked “with your strange words?”

“You don’t have to trust me. I’m your best bet of getting out of this mess alive”, the Doctor smoothly replied.

Hayley moved over to the door and touched the carving on it. She couldn’t be sure but it looked an awful lot like mistletoe. “Doctor, can you come take a look at this?” she asked and he complied.

“Looks like mistletoe”, he stated.

“That’s what I thought”, Hayley said “but why would it be on the door?”

“Good question”, the Doctor agreed. He turned to Robert “Sir Robert, did you father put that there?” he questioned.

Robert shrugged “I don't know. I suppose”, he replied.

“On the other door, too…” the Doctor murmured “a carving wouldn't be enough…I wonder…” 

“If you lick the wood, you wont be getting any kisses for quite some time. Nor anything else”, Hayley warned.

The Doctor nodded and settled for swiping a finger over the wood and sniffed it “Viscum album, the oil of the mistletoe. It's been worked into the wood like a varnish! How clever was your dad? I love him! Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins”, he explained.

“And the wolf's allergic to it?” Rose asked brows raised.

“Well, it thinks it is”, the Doctor replied “The monkey monk monks need a way of controlling the wolf, maybe they trained it to react against certain things”.

“Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor, and we still don't possess an actual weapon”, Robert pointed out.

“Actually we do”, Captain Reynolds spoke up, turning to Hayley “we have whatever you used against the creature, Miss Tyler”.

“That’s right. What weapon did you use?” Robert asked.

“I used…this”, Hayley said making her hands glow gold.

“Magic”, Victoria breathed.

“I suppose you could call it that ma’am”, Hayley conceded and made the golden glow disappear.

“But I highly doubt it’ll be enough”, Robert muttered “we’ll need more weapons”.

“Oh, your father got all the brains, didn't he?” the Doctor commented and strode toward the bookshelves “You want weapons? We're in a library. Books! Best weapons in the world”, he popped his glasses on “This room's the greatest arsenal we could have”. The Doctor pulled some off the shelves and chucked one to Rose and Hayley “Arm yourself”.

The next few minutes was spent shifting through dozens of volumes, searching for answers. “Biology, zoology…”, Rose mumbled as paged through her book “There might be something on wolves in here…”

“A book on magic”, Hayley muttered to herself.

“Some form of explosive”, Robert said, reading a page from his book.

“Ooh…” the Doctor said jumping down from the ladder, volume in hand. He set it down on the table. “Look what your old dad found. Something fell to Earth”, he said.

“A spaceship?” Rose asked as she, Robert, Reynolds and Hayley crowded around the table, except Victoria who was sitting patiently in a chair.

“A shooting star”, Hayley corrected studying the image on the open page.

“’In the year of our Lord 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit’”, Robert read aloud “That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the monastery”.

Reynolds frowned “1540? But that’s over 300 years ago”, he said “What's it been waiting for?”

“Maybe just a single cell survived”, the Doctor surmised “Adapting slowly down the generations, it survived through the humans, host after host after host”.

“But why does it want the throne?” Robert asked.

“That's what it wants”, Rose replied “It said so, the…the Empire of the Wolf”.

“Imagine it…the Victorian Age accelerated…starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam…leaving history devastated in its wake…” the Doctor said, his voice taking on a serious tone.

Victoria stood up abruptly “Sir Robert, Captain Reynolds. If I am to die here….” She started when Robert cut in with

“Don't say that, Your Majesty”

“I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself”, Victoria declared and opened up her small bag.

“I hardly think this is the time to worry about your valuables”, the Doctor commented, having looked up at that exact moment.

“Thank you for your opinion”, the monarch said “but there is nothing more valuable than this”. The group watched as she took out a beautiful white diamond.

“Is that the Koh-I-Noor?” Rose asked.

“Yes, it is”, Hayley answered “its supposedly the greatest diamond in the world”.

“It was given to me as the spoils of war”, Victoria explained “Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die”.

“Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough”, the Doctor stated “Can I…?” he held his hand out for the diamond and Victoria handed it over. “That is so beautiful”, the Time Lord said as he examined it.

“How much is that worth?” Rose asked.

“They say the wages of the entire planet for a whole week”, the Doctor replied.

“Good job mum's not here. She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing”, Rose joked.

“And she would win”, Hayley said.

“Where is the wolf?” Robert asked walking away a little, ears straining for any small noise to indicate where the wolf was “I don't trust this silence”.

Me neither”, Reynolds agreed, also listening for the wolf.

“Why do you travel with it?” the Doctor questioned, nodding to the diamond in his hands.

“My annual pilgrimage. I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead. The stone needs recutting”, Victoria told him.

“Oh, but it's perfect”, Rose commented.

“My late husband never thought so”, Victoria said.

“That’s very true”, Hayley said “Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this. But he was never happy. Kept on cutting and cutting”.

“He always said the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished”, Victoria added.

“Unfinished…” the Doctor’s eyes widened as he came to a realisation “…Oh, yes!” he tossed the diamond at Victoria, who barely was able to catch it “There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research, and your husband, Ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond, hold on, hold on”, he ran his fingers through his hair as his brain whirled “All these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected! Oh, my head, my head. What if this house, it's a trap for you. Is that right, Ma'am?”

“Obviously”, Victoria said.

“At least, that's what the wolf intended. But, what if there's a trap inside the trap?” the Doctor asked.

“Explain yourself, Doctor”, the Queen demanded.

“What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories”, the Doctor said “They dared to imagine all this was true, and they planned against it, laying the real trap not for you…but for the wolf”. As soon he said that, dust fell from above. They all looked up to see the wolf walking over the skylight. “That wolf there”, the Doctor murmured.

“Out!” Hayley shouted as the glass started to crack. All of them made a break for the door where the Time Lord, Robert and Reynolds quickly destroyed the barricade that they’d erected in order to keep the creature out.

The second everyone had left the room, the Doctor quickly slammed the door on the werewolf. The group sprinted down the corridor and around the corner, the werewolf pelting after them on all fours. For some crazy reason, Rose turned and stared at the wolf. “Rose!” Hayley cried, having seen this. She quickly stepped in front off her sister and threw time vortex at the creature. It flew back about of foot before it quickly got back up. It growled at the brunette and charged toward her.

Hayley was prepared to use more of the gold stuff when liquid was suddenly thrown over it causing the creature to howl with pain and quickly retreat. “Good shot”, the Doctor said with a grin “both of you”, he added nodding to Hayley as well.

“It was mistletoe”, Isobel explained.

“Isobel!” Robert cried, seeing his wife. He hurried over to her and embraced the woman, giving her a kiss as well. “Now, get back downstairs”, he lightly ordered.

“Keep yourself safe”, Isobel said wanting nothing more than to stay by her husband’s side.

“I will”, Robert kissed her again “Now go”.

Isobel nodded “Girls, come with me”, she said moving past her husband, Rose, the Doctor, Hayley and the Queen “Down the back stairs, back to the kitchens. Quickly!” 

Robert watches his wife leave, wondering if he’ll ever see her again. Hayley noted that look on his face. It was in that moment that she decided she was going to make sure the man didn’t die. Isobel was not going to be mourning the loss of her husband.

“Come on! We gotta get to the Observatory”, the Doctor said.

“Right. It's this way”, Robert said, pointing in the direction that his wife had disappeared down. He led them up a large staircase to the upper level where the Observatory was. 

When they all reach the room, the Doctor was in the lead. “There’s no mistletoe in this door”, Hayley stated noting the lack of the carving that was present on the library doors “The werewolf can get inside”.

“That’s exactly what we want him to do”, the Doctor said “but not yet. I’ll need a bit of time. Is there anyway to barricade this?”

“Just do your work and I'll defend it”, Robert said stepping outside of the room.

“ _We_ will defend it”, Reynolds corrected “Miss Tyler, I don’t know what you are or why you have magic but I trust you to keep Her Majesty safe”.

Hayley nodded “I will”, she promised. _But I’ll also save you both too_ she mentally added.

“Good”, Reynolds said, grateful that she was going to take up his job in protecting the Queen. And with that he closed the door.

The Time Lord ran over to the Queen. “Your Majesty, the diamond”, he said holding his hand out for it.

“For what purpose?” Victoria asked reluctant to give it back over to him.

“The purpose it was designed for”, the Doctor replied. Victoria looked at him for a moment before she handed it to him. The Time Lord rushed over to the telescope “Rose, Hales, give me a hand”, he said.

Hayley didn’t go over to him, instead she moved closer to the door. “Hayley?” Rose called from where she now stood by the telescope.

“Give me a sec”, Hayley said “help the Doctor”.

“Rose”, the Doctor said when the blonde just kept staring at her sister. She turned to him and grasped the control wheel and started to turn it.

“Is this the right time for stargazing?” Rose asked.

“Yes it is”, the Time Lord said, snippily as he strained against the wheel.

“I committed treason for you”, Hayley heard Robert say on the other side of the door. She reached out and grasped the door handle, her other hand already glowing.

“You’re going to want to step back ma’am”, Hayley said to the Queen who obliged, a cross now clutched tightly in her hands. She took a breath and in one swift movement, she yanked open the door and fired a time vortex blast at the werewolf. “Inside!” she ordered to the two men “Now!” she added when they didn’t move. Robert and Reynolds darted inside the room and Hayley slammed the door.

“Hayley, give us a hand!” the Doctor called.

“Can you guys hold this door?” Hayley asked.

“Yes”, Reynolds replied “now go help the Doctor”.

The brunette nodded and hurried over to the telescope “bloody hell, this is heavy”, she commented as she helped them turn it “why exactly are we turning it?”

“It’s a light chamber. It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up”, the Doctor explained.

“But there’s no electricity!” Rose exclaimed. Hayley glanced up at the full moon.

“It’s not powered by electricity. Its powered by the moon”, she said.

“But the wolf needs moonlight. It's made by moonlight”, Rose reminded her.

“You're seventy percent water but you can still drown”, the Doctor retorted “Come on! Come on!” he urged. The light chamber is finally aligned with the moon and the trio step away as the moonlight streams down the chamber, bouncing off the prisms. Just as the wolf breaks through the door, the light spews out of the end of the chamber onto the floor, just short of the werewolf. Robert and Reynolds moved in front of the Queen, to protect her from the creature. Hayley did the same for her sister.

The Doctor dove across the floor and throws the Koh-I-Noor into the beam of light. It bounces off the diamond’s surface, catching the werewolf . They all watch as the creature is lifted up into the air and before their eyes, the wolf slowly turns back into the young man.

“Make it brighter. Let me go”, he pleaded. The Doctor flicked a switch on the light chamber and the young man flicked back into wolf form. He howled once before he vanished. Hayley relaxed, thankful that it was over.

Victoria glanced down at a small scratch her wrist. “Your Majesty? Did it bite you?” Captain Reynolds asked, noticing.

“No, it's…it's a cut, that's all”, the Queen assured him.

“If that thing bit you…?” the Doctor started going over to the monarch.

“It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart. It's nothing”, Victoria said.

“Let me see”, the Time Lord insisted.

“It is nothing!” Victoria snapped tugging her sleeve over the cut.

~Drawing room~

The Doctor, Hayley and Rose were on their knees in front of the Queen who was now holding a sword. “By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Sir Doctor of TARDIS”, she said tapping the blade of the weapon on his shoulders. The monarch did the same with Rose and Hayley, giving them the title of Dame.

The brunette smiled. _The team is never going to believe this!_ She thought, making a note to tell them. They’d probably get a kick out of it.

“Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving no message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, Ma'am, from beyond the grave”, the Doctor told the Queen.

“Indeed”, Victoria said “Then you may think on this also. That I am not amused”. Hayley internally groaned. Rose won the bet! “Not remotely amused. And henceforth I banish you”

“I'm sorry?” The Doctor asked, taken aback by this turn of events.

“I have rewarded you, Sir Doctor, and now you are exiled from this empire, never to return”, Victoria said angrily “I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic. Your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it. You will leave these shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good, and how much longer you may survive this terrible life”.

~Highlands~

In order to get back to the TARDIS, the pair had to persuade a nice man named Dougal to give them a lift in his cart. Once they were near to the blue box, the Doctor, Rose and Hayley hopped off and thanked the Scottish man. 

"You know, Queen Victoria did actually suffer a mutation of the blood", the Doctor remarked as they walked "Its in the historical record. She was haemophiliac. They used to call it the Royal Disease. But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it, her dad didn't have it. It came from nowhere".

“What, and you're saying that's a wolf bite?” Rose asked.

“Well…maybe haemophilia is just a Victorian euphemism”, the Doctor suggested.

“For werewolf?” Rose questioned, brows raised.

“Could be”, the Doctor agreed.

The blonde laughed “Queen Victoria's a werewolf?”

“Its entirely possible”, Hayley said “and her children had the Royal Disease. She might have given them a little bite”.

“So…the Royal Family are werewolves?” Rose asked.

“Well…maybe not yet”, the Doctor replied “A single wolf cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready by... oh...early 21st century?" the Time Lord guessed.

“They are pretty private nowadays”, Hayley stated “and it would be easy to conceal their wolfy nature as everything is planned so far in advance for them”.

“And they also love blood sports”, Rose added. She let out of laugh “Oh my God, they're werewolves!”


	4. Capturing Creel

As soon as she got back to the TARDIS, Hayley fired up her laptop so she could video chat with Skye. She wanted to see the look on her face when she told her twin that she was now a Dame, the title having been bestowed on her by Queen Victoria.

“Hey sis!” the archaeologist/SHEILD Agent greeted when Skye’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hey Hales”, the other brunette said “listen I can’t really talk right now, I’m about to go on a mission”.

“What’s the mission?” Hayley asked, interested.

“Capturing Carl Creel”, Skye answered.

Hayley frowned “wait, what? I thought Creel was already caught and held in Talbot’s facility”, she said.

“He was there. But now he’s escaped”, Skye said “lucky for us someone had managed to find him so we’re gonna bring him in”.

“Where’s it going down? I can be there in minutes”, Hayley said, ready to jump into action. 

“You sure you’re up for it?” When Hayley gave her a confused look, she elaborated “I heard what happened after you spoke to Ward”.

“The Doctor was just being protective. And that little argument isn’t going to stop me from doing my job as a SHIELD Agent”, Hayley said “So where’s it happening?” Skye told her where it was. “Alright. Tell Coulson that I will meet you guys there and I’ll take your lead”, Hayley instructed.

“Will do. See you there”, Skye said and ended the video chat. Hayley closed the lid of her laptop and got up from her desk. She walked quickly to the console room to find the Doctor tinkering away.

“Hey Hayley”, he said looking up at her “how did it go with your sister?”

“It went fine”, Hayley replied “she’s about to go on a mission and I said I would help”. The Doctor wanted to tell her that it wasn’t a good idea but he knew there would be no point. She’d be determined to go so she could back up her team and protect her twin. Which meant that he was going to join to make sure that she didn’t get hurt.

“What’s the mission?” the Time Lord asked.

“Capturing Carl Creel”, Hayley replied. That had the Doctor doing a double take.

“Wasn’t he…” he began

“Locked up? Yeah… he escaped”, Hayley told him “but thankfully he’s been tracked down and a team has been sent to bring him in”.

“And where is this supposed to take place?” the Doctor questioned.

“A park in Washington, DC”, Hayley answered. The Doctor nodded, put the coordinates into the console and they were off.

\-------------

“Right, I’ll be back as soon as I can”, Hayley said “shouldn’t take too long. Hopefully”. She started toward the doors of the TARDIS when the Doctor stopped her.

“You’re not going on your own”, he said.

“I’m not going to be on my own. I’ve got my sister and whomever else Coulson has sent”, Hayley assured him.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m coming with you”, the Doctor told her firmly. When Hayley opened her mouth to argue, he added in a softer tone “you’re my world, Hayley. I cannot lose you”.

The brunette looked into his eyes, seeing brief flickers of pain in the green depths. She knew how much it hurt him whenever she’d been seriously injured and she didn’t blame him for being so insistent this time around. Hayley nodded “Ok”, she said, agreeing to him coming along. The pair then left the TARDIS.

"Skye I'm here and I’ve got the Doctor with me”, Hayley said after she’d popped in an earpiece that she'd been given in case she was called in on missions while travelling with the Doctor. “What’s your 20?” she asked holding out a spare one to the Time Lord who put it in his ear. Hayley frowned when she didn't get a response "Skye? Do you copy?” Still nothing.

The two of them exchanged looks, the adopted Tyler more worried than the Time Lord. “Skye pl-“ Hayley was cut off when there was a sudden scream of

“He’s got a gun!” then came sounds of panic and people running. The Doctor and Hayley exchanged looks again before they hurried toward the commotion. What the pair were met with, was people running around, scared and Lance Hunter holding a rifle. The Doctor and Hayley made their through the cilivians as quickly as they could but it wasn’t easy. The Time Lord had to grab hold of Hayley’s hand to keep her close to him as she kept getting jostled about by the scared public.

“Hunter No!” she shouted just about catching a glimpse of the British man placing the rifle on a hot dog stand and fired a shot at Creel who was sitting on a bench several feet away. The man that had been sitting on the other bench bolted a split second before this happened.

Fortunately or unfortunately… depending on which way you look at it…Creel had managed to himself into metal via the bench’s armrest. This meant the bullet bounced harmlessly off him. The former boxer stood up and started toward Hunter causing him to turn and run away as fast as he could. This time Hayley took the lead, shoving people aside and apologising as she did so.

The pair of them entered the office building about a minute after Creel and Hunter did, just in time to see the former backhand the latter. “Hey!” Hayley called tossing some time vortex at Creel’s back, gaining his attention “why don’t you pick on someone who actually fight back, you freak?” she taunted.

“I don’t usually hit women”, Creel said “But for you I’ll make an exception”.

“Good because I was itching for a fight anyway”, Hayley told him. Creel charged toward her, his fist already encased in metal. Hayley quickly dodged his swing and retaliated with a shot of time vortex.

The Doctor helped Lance Hunter to his feet “what were you thinking?” he asked.

“I wasn’t”, Hunter admitted. He’d been so hellbent on getting his revenge on Creel for the deaths of Hartley and Idaho that he didn’t even stop to consider the consequences of his actions. “She’s good”, he remarked eyeing Hayley as she delivered another blow to Creel with the time vortex.

“Yes, she is”, the Doctor agreed “she’s also taken” giving him a look warning the man not to try anything.

“She’s unavailable, got it”, Hunter said.

“ _She_ can also hear you!” Hayley shouted at them as she dodged another attack by Creel “its very distracting!”

“Sorry”, the Doctor called back before he rummaged in his pockets for his sonic screwdriver. He’d had a little bit of an idea since finding out that Creel was the mission which was to somehow overload the man’s power to absorb and replicate material. The question was did he have the right…ah hah! The Time Lord pulled out his sonic and a small circular partly finished device.

The device was supposed to incapacitate several enemies at once in a taser like fashion. He’d started work on it as another tool that Hayley could use while on her missions. But he’d never finished it which was good as he needed to change its function to emit a sonic pulse instead. “What is that?” Hunter asked having looked at the Doctor to see him fiddling with something in his hands.

“Something that should help”, the Time Lord said vaguely, casting a glance up at his girlfriend to see how she was holding up. As she seemed to be doing fine, he continued working. He’d almost finished when Hayley let out a scream. His head shot up to see the brunette crumple to the floor, clutching her arm.

Hunter snatched up a nearby fire extinguisher and hit him with it, hard. The Doctor quickly put the last bit into place and darted over, slamming the device on Creel’s chest while man was recovering from Hunter’s assault with the fire extinguisher. He and Hunter stepped back and watched as the device sent sonic pulses into Creel, forcing his body to rapidly change different materials before turning into blackened, crispy looking stone.

The Doctor then kneels by Hayley who was by this point was looking very pale from the pain. He scanned her arm with his sonic and discovered that it was broken. Unfortunately he didn’t have the right items to make a proper sling in his pockets so he made one using his plaid shirt. “Sorry”, he said as Hayley let out a whimper when he carefully helped her up.

As soon as she was standing, Coulson hurried in carrying a largish device in his hands. He stopped when he saw that Creel was already taken care of. He also noticed that Hayley was hurt. “What happened?” he asked, setting down the upgraded Overkill Device on the floor and going over to them, concern in his eyes.

“I messed up”, Hayley mumbled, leaning on the Doctor “let Creel too close”.

“I’ll tend to her and then you and I talk”, the Time Lord said to Coulson, giving him a look which was telling him that it may get loud. The man nodded, knowing that the Time Lord would be justified as it was his girlfriend that had gotten hurt.

\--------

The Doctor took Hayley to the medical bay where he carefully checked over her arm. It didn’t look as bad as it could’ve been but that was only down to the fact that the time vortex was currently working on healing the brunette. “I’m sorry”, Hayley said looking down at her lap.

“Why are you sorry?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m the one who let Creel get too close to me. I gave him an opening which allowed him to break my arm”, Hayley said.

“That’s not your fault”, the Doctor said gently, hearing her start to get upset “the people who had Creel to start with should’ve never let him escape in the first place. This wouldn’t have happened if he was still locked up”.

“I guess”, Hayley sighed “but still…”

“No buts. I know you did your absolute best. You always do”, the Doctor told her. Hayley gave him a small smile, grateful that he wasn’t mad at her for getting hurt. “Now, you should get some rest and allow your arm to heal”, he said.

“I’d love to rest but it’s still hurting a lot”, Hayley told him. The Doctor took out a something out of his pocket and held it out to her. It looked like a Smartie.

“This’ll help with the pain”, he said. Hayley took it, popped it in her mouth and swallowed. Almost immediately, her eyes drooped. The Doctor laid her down on the bed, brushing some of the hair from her face. He then moved to a nearby chair to patiently wait for the time vortex to do its thing and heal her broken arm.

**\------------------**

“What the hell where you thinking?!” Hayley and Rose heard the Doctor shout from inside Coulson’s office. The Time Lord had insisted that they stay outside while he ‘spoke’ to the other agents. “Letting Hunter go on the mission when he was more interested in getting revenge! Hayley could’ve been seriously hurt or killed!”

“Doctor we know your upset…” Coulson started.

“Upset?! That doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling!” the Doctor interrupted.

“Sounds like Coulson’s getting the full Oncoming Storm”, Rose remarked quietly and Hayley hummed in agreement “and I’m sorry”, she added, earning her a look of confusion.

“Sorry? Why are you sorry?” Hayley questioned.

“I was busy sleeping when you and the Doctor were off on your mission. And you got hurt”, Rose said quietly.

“That’s not your fault Rose”, Hayley said “I made the mistake, one I definitely will be learning from. Besides I’m glad you were sleeping. The last thing I want would be for you to get hurt. And if Creel had hurt you…” Hayley raised a fist, making it glow “it would be the last thing he’d ever do”.

“Still… I wanna be able to help. You think you’d be able teach me how to fight?” Rose asked.

“If that’s what you really want”, Hayley replied and the blonde nodded eagerly.

“Yes, please”, Rose said.

“It’s not going to be easy”, Hayley warned.

“Didn’t think it would be”, Rose said.

Hayley looked at the door “I think they’re going to be a while. Wanna start training?”

“What, now?” Rose asked.

“Yes, now. What better time to start when you’re in a SHIELD base with a decent training room”, Hayley said “come on”. She walked down a corridor, Rose following.

~training room~

“Here we are, one of several training rooms in the Playground”, Hayley said “this is where we hone our skills for missions or blow off a little steam”.

“So what are we starting with?” Rose asked “martial arts? Or a cool move to knock a guy on his ass?”

Hayley laughed “sorry sister but I’m not going to teach you anything like that, yet”, she said much to Rose’s disappointment.

“But I will be able to knock a guy on his ass at some point, right?” Rose asked hopeful.

“Yes, by the time I’m done, nobody will wanna mess with you”, Hayley replied earning her a grin from her adoptive sister.

“Cool. So whats first teach?” Rose questioned.

“The basics”, Hayley answered walking over to a punching bag and tapping it “grab some tape from the shelf. Rose picked up the tape and walked back to her sister. Hayley took it from her and started taping up her hands the way Ward and May had taught her.

“Right, now stand like this” Hayley showed her a fighting pose and Rose copied it “good. Now jab cross” the brunette punched the bag and the blonde repeated the action “very good. Do that for a couple of minutes”.

“Really?” Rose asked, shoulders sagging.

“Yes, really”, Hayley said “I told you it wasn’t going to be easy”.

“Yeah, I know”, Rose muttered and got started on the exercise. Hayley moved around to the other side of the punch bag and held it steady while her adoptive sister hit it.

“You know this could be worse”, Hayley remarked a moment “you could be doing pull ups”.

“Is that what you had to do?” Rose questioned.

“Yep”, Hayley replied “and I absolutely hated it. But Ward told me that if I ever found myself hanging from a 20 storey building, I’m gonna want to do at least one”.

“Am I going to have to do that too?” Rose queried.

“Yes you will. Pull ups will strengthen your upper body and your core”, Hayley told her “but don’t worry, I’m not going to make you do those today”, she assured Rose which made her very happy.

Rose continued with the exercise until she’d done it for two minutes. She shook her arms out “Man, these ache”, she complained.

“Better get used to it, it’s only going to get harder”, Hayley said.

Rose shook her arms out again “ok, what’s next?” she asked.

“Next we’re going to do something similar but with kicks”, Hayley replied.

“Ok, let’s do this”, Rose said determined to see this through despite her aching arms.

“Alright then”, Hayley said and proceeded to show her what she wanted her to do.

“Got it”, Rose said and started to do as she instructed. She was literally finishing up when Hunter walked in.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise this room was being used”, he said.

“That’s ok. Its actually good that you’re here”, Hayley said “I could do with a demonstration partner”.

“Alright” Hunter moved further into the room “what do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Just stand there”, Hayley instructed pointing to a spot in the middle of the mats. Hunter did as she asked. “What I’m about to show you are some basic self-defence moves. These are ones anybody can do, even novices”, the brunette explained to Rose.

The young blonde watched her walk up to Hunter, glancing back at Rose and throwing her a smirk. Rose knew that her adoptive sister was about to kick Hunter’s ass, not demonstrate any self-defence moves.

Hayley kneed the former mercenary in the groin making him double over. She then grabbed him and flipped him over her shoulder. Rose sniggered as Hunter landed face down on the mat. Hunter groaned as Hayley twisted his arm behind his back “next time, don’t act out of revenge”, the brunette said leaning over him “and count yourself lucky that this is the only thing I’m gonna do. Cos May isn’t going to so nice” Hayley let his arm go “you should not have shot her, Hunter”. She turned to Rose and removed the tape from her hands “you did good today”, she remarked.

“Thanks”, Rose said.

“We’ll start a proper training session in a couple of days”, Hayley said and put the tape back on the shelf “now, lets go see if the Doctor is done yelling at my boss”. Rose nodded and the pair left the training room, leaving Hunter still lying on the mat.

“Remind me never to piss her off again”, he groaned to himself. By the time the sisters reached Coulson’s office, the door opened and the Doctor stepped out.

“Is everything ok?” Hayley tentatively asked.

“Everything is fine”, the Doctor said “now, come on the universe awaits”. He took Hayley’s hand and they walked down the corridor, Rose following after her.

~TARDIS~

“So I was thinking…how does Egypt sound?” the Doctor asked as he worked at the console.

“You wanna go to Egypt?” Hayley questioned, a little surprised.

“Well, I know how much you love the place so I figured why not take you?” the Doctor said “so how about it? The Pyramids…Valley of the Kings…” Hayley smiled “…the Sphinx?”

“I’d love to”, she said “Rose?”

“I dunno…that kind of thing doesn’t really interest me”, Rose admits.

“That’s ok, we’ll go somewhere else”, Hayley said.

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that”, Rose said quickly “I can go visit mum and you two can go on a date to Egypt”.

“You sure?” Hayley asked.

“Yeah”, Rose assured her “after what happened with Creel, a date is what you two need”.

“I just don’t…” Hayley trailed off when the Doctor put a hand on the small of her back

“Rose wants us to have a nice date”, he said quietly in her ear “we could do with a little alone time, no?”

Hayley nodded, trying to ignore the shiver of pleasure that just went down her spine. “Yes, we could”, she agreed.

“Great”, the Doctor kissed her cheek and moved away from her to send the TARDIS through the time vortex toward the Powel Estate.

\-----------------

A soon as they said their goodbye’s to Rose, the Doctor and Hayley were off to Egypt. “So what time period are we going for?” Hayley asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see, it’s a surprise”, the Doctor answered. The TARDIS juddered and shook as she flew through the vortex to her new destination. The ship landed with such a thump that the pair was thrown to the floor. “You ok?” the Time Lord asked helping Hayley up.

“Yeah, I’m ok”, she replied. The Doctor shifted his grip to her hand and led her toward the doors. He opened up one and smiled at her.

“Egypt awaits”, he said and they stepped out of the TARDIS.


	5. A Dangerous Date

“So, where would you like to start?” the Doctor asked Hayley.

“I…I don’t know”, Hayley replied, still looking around the surroundings in awe “There’s so much…” she trailed off when she saw a building marked _Museum of Antiquities_. 

“Shall we make that our first stop, then?” the Doctor asked seeing the way she was looking at the building.

“Can we?” Hayley counter questioned, her eyes shining with excitement.

“I don’t see why not”, the Time Lord replied. Hayley beamed at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before making a dash toward the museum, the Doctor following after her. They’d just about entered the building when they heard a feminine voice call out for help. The pair rushed toward the source and found a brunette woman, a few years older than Hayley, clinging onto a ladder which was teetering dangerously on its feet.

“No!” Hayley shouted when the ladder toppled forward, toward the large book case in front, flinging her out at the same time. She was rather surprised when the ladder stopped in midair, a golden glow around it. “Bloody hell”, Hayley breathed, hands still outstretched.

“Oh, my god!” the woman on the ladder cried “what’s happening!”

“It’s alright”, the Doctor said quickly, stepping forward to take control of the situation. He knew that his girlfriend had somehow stopped the ladder and not knowing how long she was going to be able to hold it, he had to get the woman down as quickly as possible. “What’s your name?”

“Evelyn Carnahan”, she replied, her voice shaky with fear.

“Ok, Evelyn I need you to climb down the ladder as quickly as you can”, the Doctor said.

“No, I can’t”, Evelyn stammered, too scared to move.

“Yes, you can”, the Doctor said gently moving closer to the ladder, ready to catch her if she slipped.

“And not to be rude or anything but you might wanna do it soon. I don’t know how much longer I can do this”, Hayley said, her arms starting to shake.

Now knowing that the young woman wasn’t going to be able to do whatever it is to keep the ladder from falling for much longer, Evelyn slowly descended it. Eventually she hopped off the bottom rung and Hayley carefully set the ladder against the bookcase, sinking to the floor, panting slightly from the effort. The Doctor went over and sat down next to her, gently taking hold of her arms. “Sorry”, he said when she winced.

“Its ok”, Hayley said “only a slight ache”.

The Doctor looked at her sceptically, getting the feeling she was lying but decided not to call her out on it. “I don’t know how you did what you did, but thank you miss…” Evelyn trailed off as she realised that she didn’t know her rescuer’s names.

“I’m Hayley Tyler but you can call me Hales if you want”, Hayley said getting to her feet with the aid of the Doctor “and this is my…husband, Dr John Tyler. Though everyone either calls him John or the Doctor”.

Evelyn was about to answer when they heard a noise from the adjoining room. She glanced toward it, surprised. The expression told both the Doctor and Hayley that she’d not been expecting anyone to be in the museum. When the noise sounded again, the SHIELD Agent’s training kicked in. “Stay here”, Hayley ordered and walked off toward the source. Not surprisingly, the Doctor followed after her as did Evelyn. 

In one of the sarcophagus’ Jonathan Carnahan, Evelyn’s older brother, was barely holding back snickers as he imagined the look on his sister’s face when he made the dried up mummy that was keeping him company jump out at her. However, he wasn’t expecting to be yanked out of the sarcophagus and pinned against the side by a rather attractive young woman. “Easy there, love”, Jonathan said.

“I’m not your love”, Hayley said “now, let me guess. You thought it would be a good idea to hide in a sarcophagus and use the mummy to scare the living daylights out of Evelyn. So give me a good reason that I shouldn’t just smack you”.

The Doctor kinda hoped that he wouldn’t come up with a reason just so his girl could hit him. In all honesty, _he_ wanted to do that just for the way this guy was looking at Hayley. It was making the possessive side of himself rise to the surface. Though he managed to push it back down as he knew very well that Hayley could take care of herself.

“I have one”, Evelyn spoke up “he’s my big brother”.

Hayley glanced at her “no offense, but if I had a brother and he pulled a stunt like the one this dingus was about to attempt, I’d punch him in the face”, she said.

“Well…I would appreciate it if you didn’t hit him”, Evelyn said.

“Alright”, Hayley said and moved back.

“So did you really decide to come here in order to scare me or did you have another reason?” Evelyn asked.

“I did have another reason actually”, Jonathan said turning around and started to rummage around inside the sarcophagus “if I can just find it”.

Evelyn sighed, exasperated “Oh no, not another worthless trinket”, she griped “if I bring one more piece of junk to the Curator to try and sell for you…” she trailed off when her brother turned around, an ancient box in his hand. She took it from him, carefully inspected the markings all around it. “Where did you get this?” Evelyn asked.

“On a dig, down in Thebes”, Jonathan replied. From over Evelyn’s shoulder, the Doctor and Hayley noted that the writing, which was in English thanks to the TARDIS, was saying about being a key for the tomb of he that shall not be named. The pair exchanged looks a little concerned as to what that might mean. “My whole life I've never found anything, Evy. Please tell me I've found something”, Jonathan pleaded.

Evelyn twisted part of the box and it popped open, revealing a folded up piece of discoloured papyrus. The Doctor and Hayley exchanged looks again. This was getting more and more concerning and a tiny bit interesting. “Jonathan?” Evelyn said gingerly pulling out the paper.

“Yes?” Jonathan asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.

“I think you found something”, Evelyn replied.

\-------------

The piece of papyrus turned out to be an ancient map showing the way to the City of the Dead, Hamunaptra. Even though the curator ‘accidently’ burnt that section of the map, the siblings were still pretty interested in finding it. Evelyn because it was an important archaeological discovery and for Jonathan, well… he was eager to find the treasure held within the city. Which brought them to Cairo Prison. The Doctor and Hayley tagged along too, the pair of them having come to the decision that the siblings weren’t going to be so easily swayed from their current course. And so they thought it was best that they joined the ‘quest’ for Hamunaptra.

Currently the Doctor and Hayley were listening to Evelyn and Jonathan argue. “You told me you found it on a dig in Thebes!” Evelyn griped.

“I was mistaken”, Jonathan said.

“You lied to me!” Evelyn said angrily.

“I lie to everybody, what makes you so special?” Jonathan asked.

“I’m your sister”, Evelyn replied.

“That just makes you more gullible”, Jonathan countered.

“I don’t remember you and Rose being like that”, the Doctor remarked quietly. The sisters seemed to get along just fine while they travelled with him. More often than not, he was the one being ganged up on.

“Rose and I never really bickered, not even when we were kids”, Hayley said “she and I had a very good relationship despite the fact that I’m the adopted one”.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked, noting a wistful expression cross her face.

“Nothing”, Hayley quickly answered.

“Hales”, the Doctor said in a tone that told Hayley that he didn’t believe her.

“It’s silly”, Hayley insisted.

The Time Lord took her hand “Nothing you could say is silly to me”, he said.

“I love the family I have now, I just can’t help but think about my real family. My parents…what they would’ve been like. How it would have been with them and Skye, in a house somewhere”, Hayley admitted. She sighed “Like I said, it’s silly”.

“That’s not –“ the Doctor broke off when there was a sudden commotion. They looked over to see a rather bedraggled looking man kiss Evelyn through the bars.

“Ook, what on earth did we just miss?” Hayley asked.

“I have no idea”, the Doctor replied. The two of them followed Evelyn, Jonathan and the warden up to a balcony that overlooked a large courtyard where a wooden gallows was set up.

“We’re watching a hanging?” Hayley questioned, her conversation with the Doctor having made her a little out of the loop.

“Unfortunately yes”, Evelyn replied settling down in the seat next to the warden. They watched the bedraggled man get dragged over to the gallows and the noose slung around his neck. “I will give you a hundred pounds to spare his life”, Evelyn said.

“I would pay a hundred pounds just to see him hang”, the warden said.

“2 hundred”, Evelyn countered.

“Proceed”, the warden said and the hangman took hold of the lever that would drop the prisoner to his death. Hayley’s fingers started to glow with a golden light and she shifted behind Evelyn’s seat waiting for the right moment. If the British woman wanted that man to live, then he must know something about Hamunaptra. So she was more than willing to step in if Evelyn couldn’t bribe the warden.

“5 hundred pounds!” Evelyn blurted out. The warden glanced at her, suddenly interested.

“And what else? I’m a very lonely man”, he said, placing a hand on Evelyn’s leg. Hayley’s own flashed between the pair, grabbed the warden’s in a bone breaking grip.

“Do something like that again, I’ll break your fingers”, she threatened. Hayley let go of his hand and stepped back slightly.

“I love it when you’re a bad ass”, the Doctor murmured in her ear, tracing patterns into the small of her back. Hayley smiled to herself, slight pink in her cheeks at his compliment. The warden, both insulted and angered by what Hayley had done, gestured to the hangman.

“No!” Evelyn cried as he pulled the lever, dropping the prisoner through the trapdoor beneath his feet.

“Ha!” the warden cried triumphantly “the rope did not break. Now we must watch him strangle to death”.

“Not if I can help it”, Hayley said quietly raising her hand. It started to glow gold but before she could release it, Evelyn burst out with

“He knows the way to Hamunaptra”

“You lie”, the warden accused.

“I would never!” Evelyn said offended that he would think so.

“Are you telling me that this filthy, godless son of a pig knows where to find the city of the dead?” the warden asked.

“That’s exactly what she’s saying”, the Doctor said.

“And if you cut him down, we’ll give you…” Evelyn glanced at the prisoner “10 percent”.

“50 percent”, the warden countered.

“20”, Evelyn shot back.

“40”, the warden argued.

“30”, Evelyn said.

“25”, the warden said without thinking.

“Ah! Deal!” Evelyn said, triumphantly.

“Nice one”, Hayley said approvingly.

“Thanks”, the British woman said, pleased.

“Argh! Cut him down!” the warden ordered and his men did so.

“So does he really know the way to Hamunaptra?” Hayley asked Evelyn quietly.

“He claims he does”, Evelyn replied.

“And what’s his name?” Hayley questioned.

“Rick O’Connell”, Evelyn answered and Hayley nodded.

“Looks like there’s another on the Hamunaptra expedition”, the Doctor commented.

“Another two”, Hayley corrected “the warden will want to come as well”, she nodded to the man who walked off, slightly grumpy “In order to protect his investment”.

The Doctor didn’t bother to question her on that. He knew she had relatively good instincts, all part of the SHIELD Agent training. “Well, this is going to get pretty interesting”, he said.

“Yep, it sure will”, Hayley agreed.

“Once its all over, then it’ll just be you and me and the best sights Egypt has to offer”, the Doctor promised, kissing her temple.

“Sounds good to me”, Hayley said. As much as she was interested in helping Evelyn find the City of the Dead, she also was rather eager to have her romantic date with her boyfriend.


End file.
